• 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  SELF-DISCOVERY 
OF  RUSSIA 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

SIDELIGHTS  ON  SIBERIA. 

HENRY  DRUMMOND. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  INTERPRETATION 
OF  NATURE. 


A    POPULAR    PICTURE   POSTCARD   EMBLEMATIC  OF    THE    REPLACING   OF  THE: 
CROSS  ON    ST.   SOPHIA   BY   RUSSIA   IN    ROOM   OF  THE  CRESCENT. 

"LET    THE    SACRED    DREAMS    OF    RUSSIA    BE    REALIZED. 

LET    THE   GREATNESS    OF    VICTORIES    RAISE    HER! 

OUR    TZARGRAD    IS    THE    CROSS    ON    ST.    SOPHIA. 

THE    ENEMIES    ARE    DEFEATED,    NOW    PEACE    FOR    EVER!' 


THE 

SELF-DISCOVERY 
OF  RUSSIA 


BY 

J.   Y.   SIMPSON 


NEW    YORK 
GEORGE    H.    DORAN    COMPANY 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 


DK 


TO 

RUSSIA 

MERCIFUL    IN    VICTORY 

PATIENT    AND    CALM    IN    TRIBULATION 

AND    WITH    THE    VISION 

TO    ACT    AND    TO    ENDURE 


1084601 


PREFACE 

rtlHE  following  pages  deal  with  some  aspects  of  the 
-J-  self-discovery  of  Russia,  as  these  were  visible  in 
the  summer  of  1915.  Part  of  the  second  section  of  Theme 
III  has  appeared  in  "  The  Contemporary  Review,"  and 
Theme  IV  is  substantially  as  it  was  published  in  "The 
Hibbert  Journal."  Any  suggestion  of  dogmatism  in  the 
passages  relating  to  foreign  affairs  is  simply  due  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  based  upon  conversations  with  two  or 
three  of  the  highest  Russian  authorities  on  that  subject. 
Where  many  are  concerned  who  have  aided  me  in  various 
particulars  it  is  difficult  to  make  detailed  acknowledg- 
ment, but  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  gratitude 
to  a  friend  through  many  years,  Mr.  A.  N.  Koulomzine, 
President  of  the  Council  of  the  Empire,  without  whose 
interest  some  of  the  following  experiences  would  not 
have  been  possible.  At  the  same  time  he  is  not  respon- 
sible for  any  of  the  opinions  stated  in  the  book. 

Edinburgh,  February,  1916. 


CONTENTS 


Prelude   .... 
Theme      I.     Through  Union  to  Victory 
Interlude.    By  little  Mother  Volga  . 
Theme     II.     Some  Economic  Problems 
Theme  III.     The  Prohibition  of  Vodka 

(1)  Russia's  Initial  Victory 

(2)  In  the  Country 

(3)  In  the  Towns  and  Factories 

(4)  From  the  Physician's  Point  of  View 

that  of  the  future 

Theme    IV.     On  the  Galician  Front 
Theme      V.     The  Future  of  Poland  . 

Interlude.      Great  Elms 
Theme    VI.     Religion  in  Russia  To-day 
Theme  VII.     Russia  and  Constantinople 
Postlude   .... 


AND 


PAGE 

3 
11 
33 
43 

57 

57 
67 
90 

113 
123 
157 
178 
179 
199 
219 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

A  popular  picture  postcard  emblematic  of  the  replacing  of 

the  Cross  on  St.  Sophia  by  Russia  in  Room  of  the 

Crescent  ......  Frontispiece 

Facing  page 
"  A  single  old  man  sitting  outside  the  Volostnoye  Pravlenie  "       38 

"  Ornamented  with  carving  and  lattice  work  "  38 

"  A  picture  is  gained  of  Tarnopol  "  ....      126 

"  The  villages  are  practically  intact  "        .  .  .  .126 

"  Sanitary  Train  No.  303  " 128 

"  Little  encampments  of  refugees "  .  .  .  .128 

The  old  Schloss  viewed  from  the  back  .  .  .  .130 

Village  beside  the  Schloss    .  .  .  .  .  .130 

"  The  largest  building  .  .  .  had  been  a  distillery  "    .  .      132 

"  A  tailless  dog  of  a  peculiar  breed  "         .  .  .  .132 

"  Peasant  women  were  working  in  the  fields  "  .  .  .134 

"  Passed  over  immediately  into  a  communication  trench  "       134 

"  The  first-fine  trenches  " 136 

"  Mimicking  the  surrounding  shocks  of  grain  "  .  .  .     136 

"  Leaflets  of  a  seditionary  character "  .  .  .     138 

"  At  the  end  was  a  binocular  range-finder  "       .  .  .138 

"  In  parts  through  open  country  "  .  .  .  .  .140 

"  Special  dug-outs  were  made  for  the  rifles  "     .  .  .     140 

"  In  the  centre  were  the  colours  "    .  .  .  .  .144 

"  Another  got  up  on  his  shoulders  on  the  saddle  "      .  .      144 

"  With  three  Austrian  prisoners  a  German  deserter  "  .     148 

Company  returning  from  the  trenches  to  the  village         .     148 


PRELUDE 


THE  SELF-DISCOVERY 
OF  RUSSIA 


PRELUDE 

IN  a  recent  charming  essay  entitled  "  The  Soul  of 
Russia  "  (Dusha  Rossii),  Nicolai  Berdyaev  pictures 
his  country,  hitherto  separated  and  apart  from  the  cul- 
tural life  of  Europe,  misunderstood  and  unappreciated 
in  the  West  except  by  "  a  few  select  individuals,"  as  face 
to  face  with  the  hour  of  her  showing  forth  unto  the  world. 
"  That  which  has  worked  ceaselessly  in  the  depths  of 
the  Russian  spirit  is  no  longer  to  be  provincial  and  con- 
fined in  its  manifestation  :  the  Slav  race  with  Russia 
at  its  head  is  henceforth  called  to  a  defining  role  in  the 
life  of  humanity.  Yet  the  realisation  of  the  world  tasks 
of  Russia  cannot  be  left  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  ele- 
mental forces  of  history  :  there  is  a  call  to  creative  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  national  will  and  spirit."  Then  sud- 
denly the  writer  is  afflicted  with  a  doubt.  "  But  even  if 
the  peoples  of  the  West  will  in  the  end  be  forced  to  see 
the  unique  image  of  Russia  and  to  acknowledge  her 
mission,  is  it  so  clear  that  we  ourselves  know  what 
Russia  is,  and  to  what  she  is  called  ?  Even  for  us  Russia 
remains  an  unsolved  mystery, — Russia,  so  contradictory 
and  full  of  antinomies."  And  then  he  falls  back  on 
Tiutchev's  lines  : 

"  You  cannot  understand  Russia  by  the  intelligence  ; 
You  cannot  measure  her  by  the  ordinary  foot-rule ; 
She  has  her  own  peculiar  conformation  ; 
You  can  only  believe  in  Russia." 


4  THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

Now  it  is  just  because  Berdyaev  is  right  that  it  is 
possible  to  speak  of  the  Self-discovery  of  Russia.  She 
has  been  surprising  the  world,  but  she  has  also  been 
surprising  herself.  Under  the  stress  of  a  war  that  is 
popular,  as  the  Russo-Japanese  War  never  was,  the 
country  is  being  educated  in  a  way  that  pages  of  Imperial 
Rescript  or  months  of  Duma  debate  could  not  have  done. 
There  is  a  very  real  sense  in  which  Russia  will  gain  more 
out  of  the  war  than  any  other  of  the  Great  Powers  in- 
volved, since  she  will  have  evolved  politicly  in  its  few 
years  through  stages  that  have  taken  other  countries 
centuries  to  pass".  "VeTy" noteworthy  is  the  intensification 
of  life  that  expresses  itself  in  a  myriad  forms,  yet  is  not 
everywhere  in  evidence,  for  there  are  vast  domains  of 
life  that  have  been  not  so  much  paralysed  as  weakened 
by  the  war.  Apart  from  this,  however,  the  war  is  a  great 
national  effort  with  incalculable  moral  consequences.  It 
has  further  revolutionised  the  economic  life  of  the  villages 
in  particular,  through  the  vodka  prohibition.  Small 
wonder  that  the  biggest  German  miscalculations  since 
the  commencement  of  hostilities  have  been  about  Russia. 
Again,  in  the  essay  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made,  Berdyaev  quotes  the  well-known  legend  from  the 
dawn  of  Russian  history,  which  tells  how  that  people  sent 
an  invitation  to  the  foreign  Varyags  to  come  and  adminis- 
ter their  territory  :  "  Our  land  is  vast  and  plentiful," 
they  said,  "  but  there  is  no  order  in  it."  And  the  essayist 
continues  :  "  How  characteristic  that  was  of  the  fatal 
incapacity  and  lack  of  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Russian 
people  to  produce  order  in  their  land  !  It  is  as  if  the 
Russian  people  did  not  wish  a  free  empire, — did  not  so 
much  wish  freedom  in  their  empire  as  freedom  from 
empire,  freedom  from  all  care  of  earthly  management.  The 
Russian  people  does  not  wish  to  be  a  domineering  superior ; 
its  nature  is  passive,  rather  gentle,  ready  to  obey, — more 
like  that  of  a  wife  than  that  of  a  husband.  Passive, 
receptive  in  its  relation  to  imperial  matters  and  power, — 


\ 


PRELUDE  6 

such  is  the  character  of  the  Russian  people  and  of  their 
history.  There  are  no  limits  to  the  meek  patience  of 
the  long-suffering  Russian  people."  Just  in  the  degree 
in  which  the  truth  of  these  words  is  realised  is  the  mind 
of  the  observer  filled  with  admiration  as  he  studies  the 
details  of  the  process  under  which  Russia  has  discovered 
her  capacity  for  organisation,  as  evidenced  in  the  work  of 
the  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  Zemstvos  (County  Councils). 
It  is  perhaps  the  most  characteristic  feature  in  the  activi- 
ties of  Russia  to-day.  Hitherto  she  has  been  accustomed 
to  a  Government  that  has  done  everything  for  the  people, 
but  under  the  pressure  of  the  war  that  Government  has 
sought  the  assistance  and  co-operation  of  the  people, 
and  they  have  been  learning  how  to  organise.  What 
above  all  was  necessary  in  Russia  was  not  so  much  liberty 
of  speech  or  of  the  Press  as  liberty  of  sound  action,  and 
that  she  has  been  given  as  at  no  other  stage  in  her  history. 
Too  often  the  internal  relations  of  Russia  have  been 
depicted  in  this  country  as  those  of  a  bureaucracy  and  a 
democracy  continuously  in  conflict,  with  the  former  as  a 
kind  of  evil  genius.  There  could  be  no  profounder  mis- 
take. Bureacraucy  is  not  necessarily  an  evil.  Every- 
thing depends  upon  its  spirit,  and  a  bureaucracy  can  be 
improved  and  changed  if  its  spirit  is  changed.  To-day 
there  is  a  great  struggle  going  on  in  the  Russian  bureau- 
cracy itself  between  the  more  progressive  and  the  more 
conservative  elements.  That  bureaucracy  is  very  far  from 
being  a  mere  homogeneous  mass  of  reactionary  outlook. 
To  return  to  Berdyaev  once  again.  "  Imperial  power," 
he  says,  "  was  always  an  external,  not  an  internal  prin- 
ciple in  the  mind  of  the  unimperialistic  Russian  people. 
It  did  not  grow  out  of  them  but  came  to  them  from  the 
outside,  as  a  bridegroom  comes  to  his  bride.  And  that 
is  why  power  frequently  produced  the  impression  of 
something  foreign, — a  sort  of  German  power."  One  very 
characteristic  feature  in  this  process  of  self-discovery 
has  been  the  awakened  sensitivity  to  everything  that  is 


6  THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

distinctively  Russian,  and  the  humiliation  with  which  it 
has  been  realised  to  what  a  degree  the  economic  and  mental 
life  of  the  nation  has  been  permeated  by  the  German 
influence.  That  this  should  have  been  so  is  in  no  kind 
of  a  way  remarkable  on  geographical  or  ethnographical 
grounds.  What  we  are  apt  to  forget  is  that  there  was  a 
long  period  when  this  end  was  deliberately  sought  by 
Russia,  an  era  during  which,  in  short,  she  was  endeavour- 
ing to  come  to  a  lasting  understanding  with  Germany. 
The  policy  of  Alexander  II  was  a  policy  of  alliance  with 
Germany,  and  the  development  of  it  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  noblest  of  living  Russians.  England 
was  "  the  natural  enemy."  Of  the  behaviour  of  republican 
France  Russia  could  never  be  sure,  thinking  that  her 
desire  for  alliance  was  simply  part  of  a  scheme  to  aid  her 
in  the  recovery  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  Allied  with  Germany, 
Russia  would  be  safe  :  she  could  follow  her  own  ends  and 
retain  her  interests  in  the  East  in  spite  of  her  one  adver- 
sary, England.  The  alliance  with  Germany  ensured  the 
neutrality  of  Austria.  France  would  not  move  for  fear 
of  an  attack  by  Germany. 

Upon  the  death  of  Alexander  II,  his  son  Alexander  III 
succeeded  him,  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  Ger- 
many. It  was  he  who  inaugurated  the  alliance  with 
France.  There  were  two  main  reasons  for  this  profound 
change  in  foreign  policy.  The  first  was  that  Alexander 
III  came  to  believe  that  if  Russia  and  Germany  were 
allianced  there  would  be  no  counterpoise,  that  Germany 
and  Russia  together  would  be  too  strong  for  any  other 
combination  of  Powers  that  might  seek  to  maintain  an 
equilibrium  against  them,  and  that  after  Germany,  with 
the  assistance  of  Russia,  had  succeeded  in  her  aims,  she 
would  then  turn  upon  her  ally  and  rend  her.  The  second 
reason  for  the  change  was  that  at  the  very  time  that  the 
Russian  Ambassador  was  engaged  in  conversations  with 
Bismarck  at  Berlin,  the  latter  was  plotting  with  Austria. 
If  Germany  had  not  gone  in  with  Austria,  Alexander  III 


PRELUDE  7 

would  have  followed  his  father's  policy.  The  discovery 
of  Bismarck's  duplicity  was  the  actual  cause  or  stimulus 
that  led  to  the  change  in  policy.  Germany  and  Austria 
entered  into  alliance  in  1878.  From  that  date  it  was 
clear  that  there  could  not  be  perfect  friendship  between 
Russia  and  Germany,  inasmuch  as  the  Slav  question  hope- 
lessly sundered  Austria  and  Russia.  The  forceful  absorp- 
tion of  Bosnia -Herzegovina  made  the  Austrian  policy 
unmistakable.  Germany  homologated  the  action  of  her 
ally  in  that  issue,  and  Russia  sheered  off. 

There  has  been,  then,  a  very  complete  reversal  of 
policy  which  is  being  followed  out  not  merely  on  the 
battlefront,  but  in  every  avenue  of  Russian  public  and 
commercial  life.  The  war  with  Germany  so  far  as  Russia 
is  concerned,  is  a  war  between  two  peoples,  not  a  war 
between  two  Governments,  as  was  the  Russo-Japanese 
War.  It  is  a  war  between  two  ideals  of  life,  for  even 
more  sharply  than  our  own,  the  whole  Russian  attitude 
to  life  stands  in  completest  contrast  to  the  German.  The 
intensity  of  the  feeling  may  be  gathered  from  a  conversa- 
tion in  a  peasant  home.  "  I  have  a  foreboding,"  the  old 
woman  said  one  evening,  "  that  our  Ivan  is  going  to  be 
taken."  Her  husband  comforted  her  thus  :  "  If  he  is 
going  to  be  taken,  it  means  that  he  ought  to  be  taken  : 
we  have  to  beat  the  Germans,  and  a  man  can  only  die 
once."  Thomas  Chalmers  once  wrote  of  "  the  expulsive 
power  of  a  new  affection."  There  is  no  doubt  of  the 
expulsive  power  in  Russia  to-day,  and  there  are  many 
indications  of  where  the  "  new  affection  "  lies,  but  the 
"  abhorred  "  vacua  must  be  filled.  One  of  the  great 
problems  before  our  nation  is,  how  far,  and  in  what 
spirit,  we  can  fill  them. 


THEME   I 

THROUGH   UNION  TO  VICTORY 


THEME  I 

THROUGH  UNION   TO   VICTORY 

ON  the  1st  day  of  January,  1864,  there  came  into 
existence  by  law  one  of  the  most  characteristic  of 
Russian  administrative  institutions,  the  Zemstvo.  Dis- 
tinctive in  inception,  constitution,  and  control,  the 
Zemstvo  nevertheless  executes  functions  broadly  similar 
to,  if  perhaps  more  inclusive  than,  those  undertaken  by 
our  County  Councils.1  It  concerns  itself  with  the  imposi- 
tion and  collection  of  the  county  and  provincial  rates 
and  taxes,  with  the  construction  and  upkeep  of  roads  and 
bridges,  with  primary  education,  with  questions  of  public 
health  and  public  relief,  with  providing  banking  and 
insurance  facilities  for  the  peasants, — in  short  with  every- 
thing that  directly  concerns  the  general  well-being  of 
country  and,  more  particularly,  agricultural  conditions. 
So  far  it  has  been  limited  to  the  more  developed  parts  of 
Russia,  and  is  not  known  e.g.  in  Archangel,  the  Don 
Territory,  the  Caucasus,  or  even  Siberia.  Its  member- 
ship is  chiefly  drawn  from  the  landed  proprietors,  great 
and  small  (i.e.  roughly,  the  nobility  and  the  middle  class) 
with  a  certain  representation  of  clergy  and  peasants. 

As  a  simple  matter  of  fact  there  had  been  very  little 
united  action  on  the  part  of  the  Provincial  Zemstvos — 
if  we  except  arrangements  between  groups  of  two  or  three 
for  loans  or  concerted  buying  of  iron,  or  the  introduction 
of  industrial  machinery — till  the  Russo-Japanese  War, 

1  The  District  Zemstvos  send  representatives  to  compose  a  Zemstvo 
of  the  second  degree,  the  Provincial  or  Government  (Guberny)  Zemstvo. 

11 


12         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

when  a  definite  Union  of  all  of  them  took  place  to  supple- 
ment the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  Society  in  the  care  of 
the  sick  and  wounded.  This  work  was  most  efficiently 
done,  and  in  the  course  of  it  there  developed  an  organisa- 
tion of  first-rate  importance  which  did  not  lapse  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  continued  to  find  scope  for  its 
activities  in  connection  with  furnishing  relief  during  famine 
and  in  other  ways.  Accordingly  when  war  broke  out  in 
August,  1914,  in  addition  to  the  Red  Cross  Society,  Russia 
had  this  other  organisation  which  immediately  got  ready 
to  take  up  its  old  role.  The  necessity  for  this  became 
quickly  apparent  as  the  organisation  of  the  Red  Cross 
Society  was  not  on  a  scale  to  admit  of  its  coping  with 
the  situation  as  a  whole. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Towns  of  Russia,  which  had 
been  invested  by  statute  in  1870  with  powers  of  self- 
government  corresponding  roughly  to  those  previously 
granted  to  the  Zemstvos,  had  not  taken  any  united  action 
in  the  Russo-Japanese  War.  However,  soon  after  the 
commencement  of  the  present  war,  members  of  the 
Moscow  municipality  realised  that  owing  to  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  railway  trunk  lines,  their  city  would  become 
the  principal  centre  for  the  reception  and  distribution  of 
the  wounded,  and  the  Town  Council  offered  to  call  in 
the  assistance  of  other  towns  and  co-operate  with  the 
Government  on  the  same  general  lines  as  the  Union  of 
the  Zemstvos.  The  difficulty  of  foreseeing  the  scale  upon 
which  operations  would  take  place  was  in  part  responsible 
for  the  limitations  under  which  these  offers  of  assistance 
were  at  first  received  by  the  Government, — e.g.  the 
Unions  were  forbidden  to  operate  west  of  the  line  Petro- 
grad — Moscow — Kiev,  which  was  reserved  for  the  military 
and  Red  Cross  establishments.  The  stream  of  wounded, 
however,  quickly  overflowed  the  Government  channels 
prepared  for  their  reception  :  numbers  of  men  were 
brought  from  the  front  practically  untended  and  unfed. 
The  Union  of  the  Towns  was  then  authorised  to  proceed 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  13 

with  its  programme,  and  immediately  started  to  enlarge 
its  work.  The  towns  are  grouped  round  six  centres, — 
Petrograd,  Moscow,  Kiev,  Voronesh,  Tiflis,  and  Irkutsk. 

The  work  of  the  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  of  the  Zem- 
stvos  in  this  war  has  been  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
features  in  the  process  of  self-discovery  which  has  been 
stimulated  by  the  war.  And  it  is  all  the  more  remarkable 
because  organisation  has  never  been  a  distinctive  feature 
of  Russian  life,  and  anything  savouring  of  mechanism  is 
really  abhorrent  to  the  genius  of  the  people.  They  co- 
operate readily  enough  on  the  basis  of  equality,  for  pur- 
poses of  self -aid,  where  authority  is  not  imposed  on 
them,  as  the  success  of  their  artels  and  co-operative 
societies  shows  ;  but  they  have  never  naturally  taken 
to  mechanical  organisation  whether  imposed  from  with- 
out or  developed  from  within.  Nevertheless  in  Moscow 
alone  preparations  were  made  by  the  Union  for  some 
65,000  beds.1  The  resources  in  equipment  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Unions  enabled  them  to  outstrip  the  strictly 
Governmental  agencies  in  provision  for  the  care  of  the 
sick  and  wounded.  Their  organisations  crept  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  actual  fighting  line  in  the  form  of  field  hos- 
pital and  hospital  train,  tea  and  coffee -stalls  and  field 
shops.  They  were  welcomed  by  the  army,  and  subjected 
to  ever  increasing  demands,  because  of  their  efficiency. 

The  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  of  the  Zemstvos  alike 
work  under  the  aegis  of  the  Red  Cross  Society,  but  the 
relationship  is  purely  formal.  The  Russian  Red  Cross 
Society  may  be  said  to  be  de  facto,  though  not  de  jure,  a 
Government  organisation.  It  is  directly  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Dowager  Empress,  and  claims  the  active 
interest  of  many  members  of  the  aristocracy  and  bureau- 
cracy. It  receives  money  from  both  Government  and 
private  individuals.    Although  not  strictly  on  the  basis 

1  The  figures  given  throughout  this  account  are  representative  of  the 
situation  at  the  close  of  the  first  whole  year  of  the  war,  except  where 
the  context  shows  the  case  to  be  otherwise. 


14         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

of  a  business  undertaking,— for  its  officials  are  normally 
men  with  many  other  interests, — it  now  has  a  monopoly 
of  the  administration  of  such  work,  in  the  sense  that 
individuals  cannot  take  it  up  apart.  Active  alike  in 
peace  and  war,  it  has  always  appealed  with  success  to 
the  Russian  heart,  but  had  never  any  hope  of  being  able 
to  meet  the  situation  developing  at  the  front  single- 
handed,  although  immediate  efforts  were  made  to  in- 
crease its  capacity  for  service.  Accordingly  its  chief 
administrators  were  glad  to  secure  the  assistance  of  other 
organisations  of  kindred  purpose,  even  when  it  was  clear 
from  the  first  that  the  latter  would  be  able  to  work  on 
a  much  larger  scale.  The  Unions  of  the  Towns  and 
Zemstvos,  accordingly,  are  granted  the  privileges  and 
protection  of  the  Red  Cross  Society.  They  are  empowered 
e.g.  to  use  the  Red  Cross  symbol  on  their  writing  paper, 
to  frank  their  letters,  to  send  goods  free  by  railway. 
Officials  working  and  representing  the  Unions  have  to  go 
as  members  of  the  Red  Cross,  receiving  that  right  from 
the  Society.  Apart  from  this  the  Unions  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Red  Cross  :  their  relations  are  perfectly 
correct  but  separate.  The  Red  Cross  Society  has  no 
authority  over  them. 

The  two  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  of  the  Zemstvos 
have,  generally  speaking,  the  same  objects.  The  differ- 
ence between  them  lies  in  the  character  of  their  member- 
ship, which  in  the  one  case  is  urban  and  in  the  other 
drawn  from  the  country  districts.  So  far  as  their  work  deals 
with  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  they  are  separate 
institutions.  For  this  there  is  an  historical  explanation, 
as  there  has  been  rivalry  between  the  Municipalities  and 
the  Zemstvos  for  many  years.  They  differ  on  questions 
of  taxation  and  other  matters.  Yet  perhaps  into  the 
reason  for  the  two  separate  organisations  there  also  enters 
a  certain  psychological  element.  The  Zemstvo  is  for  the 
most  part  composed  of  landed  proprietors,  great  and 
small,  whose  tradition  of  fifty  years,  on  the  whole,  has 


THROUGH  UNION  TO   VICTORY  15 

been  to  work  with  the  idea  of  giving  back  to  the  peasant 
in  another  form  that  which  has  been  taken  from  him. 
There  is  a  philanthropic  note  in  the  Zemstvo  work  :  it  is 
done  with  heart,  as  in  the  free  distribution  of  medicine 
to  women  in  child-birth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  towns 
never  had  the  problem  of  the  serfs.  The  merchants  have 
always  had  the  prominence  in  the  organisations  there, 
and  the  tendency  of  their  more  strictly  business  arrange- 
ments has  been  in  the  interests  of  the  towns  themselves 
considered  as  a  whole,  rather  than  in  those  of  their  more 
needy  inhabitants.  Yet  such  a  distinction  cannot  be 
stressed. 

The  method  of  organisation  adopted  by  the  Union  of 
the  Zemstvos  was  to  find  out  what  each  district  was 
able  or  prepared  to  do,  for  some  of  them  can  do  little 
and  others  much.  With  regard  to  the  sick  and  wounded, 
the  question  was  definitely  put  to  the  provinces  involved, 
How  many  beds  can  you  supply  ?  and  then  the  wounded 
were  sent  there  in  these  numbers.  But  such  simplicity 
of  working  depends  on  many  circumstances.  The  Govern- 
ments of  East  Russia,  e.g.  Astrakhan,  are  at  a  great  dis- 
tance from  the  western  frontier,  and  it  was  not  so  easy  to 
transport  the  wounded  there.  The  greatest  number  of 
wounded  are  disposed,  therefore,  in  the  west  and  south- 
west of  Russia  ;  but  every  Zemstvo  has  been  asked  how 
many  beds  it  can  supply. 

The  numbers  handled  in  this  way  come  to  be  very 
great.  In  the  month  of  December,  1914,  280,000  wounded 
men  were  treated  by  the  Union  of  the  Zemstvos.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  war  to  July  1st,  1915,  715,879  sick 
and  wounded — 60  per  cent  of  the  whole — passed  through, 
or  stayed  in,  the  Moscow  Zemstvo  institutions  alone.  The 
heavy  end  of  the  burden  falls  there,  the  unequal  distribu- 
tion being  mainly  due  to  the  circumstance  that  there  is 
not  a  sufficient  network  of  railways  to  broaden  the 
assignment  of  the  wounded.  This  involves  enormous 
centralisation,  which  in  turn  proves  to  be  a  very  costly 


16         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

method  of  carrying  on  the  work.  A  more  equal  distribu- 
tion would  have  made  it  possible  to  do  the  work  more 
cheaply.  In  the  districts  under  martial  law,  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  wounded  is  under  the  joint  control  of 
the  Unions  and  the  Ministry  of  War.  The  Ministry  of 
War  also,  for  example,  decides,  on  considerations  of 
effective  control  and  centralisation,  that  wounded  shall 
not  be  sent  to  the  Governments  of  Archangel  or  Vologda. 
The  greater  part  of  the  funds — some  three-quarters — is 
given  by  the  Government :  the  balance  is  supplied  by  the 
Zemstvos.  The  Government  money  is  given  to  the 
Zemstvos  through  the  Union. 

The  same  holds  true  of  the  Union  of  the  Towns.  It 
collected  sufficient  funds  to  form  the  Union,  but  the 
actual  budget  provided  by  the  cities  is  not  large.  All 
the  aid  given  to  the  sick  and  wounded,  their  hospital 
trains  and  field  hospitals,  etc.,  are  organised  with  funds 
supplied  by  the  Government.  In  some  cases  the  field 
hospitals  are  supplied  by  groups  of  individuals.  Thus 
the  advocates  of  Moscow,  or  a  group  of  Siberian  towns, 
or  a  tribe  of  Buryats  would  collect  a  sum  of,  say,  fifty  to 
sixty  thousand  rubles,  and  give  it  to  the  Union  of  the 
Towns  saying,  Take  this  money  and  organise  a  field 
hospital  and  call  it  by  our  name.  If  the  sum  was  in- 
sufficient for  the  purpose,  the  Union  supplied  the  balance 
out  of  its  own  funds,  or  in  certain  cases  from  the  Govern- 
ment contributions. 

A  good  example  of  the  initiative  and  enterprise  exerted 
by  the  Union  of  Towns  may  be  seen  in  Petrograd.  The 
Mayor  is  President  of  the  Committee,  on  which  there 
are,  beside  others,  two  generals,  to  advise  especially  in 
connection  with  military  details.  The  Municipality  has 
provided  25,000  beds  for  the  wounded,  and  15,000  others 
have  been  furnished  between  the  Red  Cross  and  the 
military,  40,000  in  all.  Something  more  distinctive  may 
be  seen  at  the  Warsaw  station,  where  most  of  the  wounded 
were   arriving   in  Petrograd   in   the   summer   of    1915. 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  17 

The  hospital  train  comes  in  on  one  side  of  a  long  plat- 
form whose  offices  and  sheds  have  been  transformed 
into  a  series  of  communicating  barrack  rooms,  with  the 
adjuncts  necessary  for  bathing,  feeding,  clothing,  and 
attending  medically  to  the  men  who  have  just  come  in. 
In  one  of  the  long  halls  stand  tables  on  which  are  black 
bread  and  ewers  of  tea,  so  that  the  men  can  be  fed  as 
soon  as  they  come  off  the  trains.  Those  that  can  walk 
about  do  so,  and  the  more  serious  cases  are  taken  to  beds 
in  another  of  these  waiting-rooms.  The  whole  treatment 
is  most  efficient ;  for  as  soon  as  the  men  come  off  the 
trains,  their  clothes  are  taken  from  them  to  be  cleaned 
and  disinfected,  they  can  wash,  and  enjoy  a  spray,  and 
are  then  given  new  clothes.  After  that  they  are  moved 
out  on  the  other  side  of  the  platform  with  the  assistance 
of  "  sisters  "  and  university  students,  where  ambulance 
trolley  cars  from  the  city  tramways  are  waiting,  in  which 
they  are  transported  to  the  principal  hospitals.  Men 
wounded  in  their  limbs  sit  in  the  ordinary  cars  :  other 
cars  are  specially  fitted  out  for  those  who  are  still  lying 
on  stretchers. 

Even  more  successful  was  a  whole  new  series  of  two- 
storeyed  wooden  buildings  which  had  been  erected  along 
the  length  of  the  platform  immediately  across  the  line 
from  this  older  one.  There  provision  was  being  made 
for  1000  beds,  with  special  quarters  for  officers,  together 
with  magnificent  kitchen,  large  boilers  for  the  treatment 
of  soldiers'  linen,  rooms  for  doctors,  nurses,  servants,  and 
a  very  complete  installation  of  Russian  baths,  sprays, 
bunches  of  fibre  for  washing  and  buckets.  At  whatever 
hour  of  the  day  or  night  the  soldiers  arrive,  they  can  thus 
be  straightway  looked  after,  while  any  serious  case  can 
receive  immediate  attention. 

The  same  ingenuity  is  revealed  in  buildings  that  have 
been  adapted  for  the  use  of  the  wounded  as,  e.g.  tram- 
way depots.  There,  in  one  instance,  by  covering  over 
the  docks  between  the  cleaning  platforms  with  boards,  a 


18         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

great  area  has  been  secured  in  which  800  beds  have  been 
placed.  They  stood  two  together  with  a  little  table 
between  each  couple, — six  in  such  a  row,  with  passages  up 
and  down  between  the  ranks.  Here  also  every  accessory 
had  been  installed, — kitchen,  operating  rooms,  and  baths, 
admirably  planned.  The  men  lay  in  different  postures 
differently  engaged,  one  who  had  been  "  gassed  "  abso- 
lutely motionless  with  swollen  face  and  chest,  another 
reading  the  Evangile,  one  playing  a  game  against  himself 
at  draughts,  others  reading  newspapers,  all  showing  that 
wonderful  patience  and  cheerfulness  that  impress  every- 
one who  has  to  do  with  them.  "  How  lovable  they  are, — 
just  like  great  children,"  said  an  English  Red  Cross  nurse 
to  me.  It  was  much  the  same  sort  of  thing  in  another 
adapted  institution, — a  primary  school.  Of  these  five 
have  been  taken  over  in  this  way,  and  about  twenty 
gymnasia.  Each  class-room  had  sixteen  beds  ranged 
round  the  wall,  feet  out  towards  the  centre.  Of  the 
thirteen  doctors  attached  to  it,  eleven  were  women  : 
most  of  the  men  are  away  at  the  front. 

But  the  Union  of  the  Towns  even  in  the  towns  them- 
selves does  not  deal  simply  with  the  sick  and  wounded. 
It  makes  considerable  provision  for  the  wives  and  families 
of  soldiers.  Thus  the  Municipality  of  Petrograd  has 
given  2£  million  rubles  to  this  cause,  while  the  Govern- 
ment allowance  for  Petrograd  alone  was  about  the  same 
figure.  Further,  the  Municipality  has  organised  a  number 
of  places  where  work  can  be  got  by  those  who  require  it, 
e.g.  making  shirts  and  hospital  slippers  for  the  soldiers. 
The  city  has  been  divided  into  twenty  sections,  in  each 
of  which  there  is  an  institution  for  dealing  with  the  relief 
of  all  special  cases  arising  out  of  the  war.  "  No  man 
or  woman  need  die  from  starvation  in  Petrograd,"  was 
the  proud  statement  of  those  in  charge.  The  Mayor 
took  me  to  one  of  the  institutions  where  the  Municipality 
had  arranged  for  such  work,  primarily  for  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  soldiers,  but  also  for  any  women  who  were 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  19 

in  distress.  The  building  had  been  a  museum,  but  "all 
the  objects  had  been  removed  from  it.  Instead  long  tables 
ran  down  the  galleries,  covered  with  light  oilcloth.  At 
these  women  were  engaged  in  work  on  respirators,  making 
them  out  of  muslin  and  treating  them  with  chemicals. 
There  are  several  stages  in  the  preparation  of  these 
respirators,  and  to  each  stage  a  separate  table  is  devoted, 
the  simpler  stages  being  entrusted  to  the  younger  girls. 
They  had  already  made  more  than  600,000  in  that  build- 
ing alone.  Employment  was  given  in  this  way  to  six 
hundred  women,  and  the  Municipality  intends  to  open 
many  more  such  places.  These  women  work  for  six 
hours  a  day  and  receive  85  kopeks  a  day.  The  periods 
of  working  are  from  7  to  12,  after  which  there  is  a  break 
of  an  hour  ;  then  from  1  to  4  and  again  from  9  to  12. 
Two  different  lots  of  women  were  at  work.  A  preference 
is  manifested  for  the  afternoon  and  night  shifts,  so  that 
the  workers  have  to  be  changed  into  the  morning  groups 
occasionally.  As  they  pass  into  the  building,  they  are 
compelled  to  put  on  white  cotton  overalls,  and  a  white 
handkerchief,  sister-fashion,  over  their  heads,  and  also  to 
show  that  their  hands  are  clean.  They  worked  as  if  they 
enjoyed  it. 

The  efforts  of  the  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  Zemstvos 
did  not  end,  however,  even  with  their  care  of  the  sick 
and  wounded,  and  the  organisation  of  provision  for 
the  wives  and  families  of  soldiers.  Great  numbers  of 
refugees  at  first  from  hostile  territory,  but  latterly  from 
their  own,  had  to  be  looked  after  as  they  moved  away 
eastwards  by  slow  stages,  fleeing  from  the  seat  of  war. 
There  was  no  other  agency  that  could  face  a  situation 
which  involved  the  charge  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
human  beings,  and  once  again  the  work  was  delegated  to 
the  Unions.  The  Unions  not  merely  took  in  hand  to  tend 
the  local  groups  of  five  to  ten  thousand  (including  many 
Jews),  abandoning  their  homes  in  Poland  with  their 
children,  their  sick  ones  and  their  aged  during  the  first 


20         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

winter  of  the  war.  They  also  looked  after  some  seventy 
to  eighty  thousand  fugitive  Armenians  in  the  Caucasus, 
giving  them  food,  shelter  and  medical  treatment. 

Gradually  also  there  was  laid  upon  the  Unions  a  great 
share  in  provisioning  and  clothing  the  army  itself.  Thus 
a  large  number  of  food  stations  was  established  in  Poland 
for  wounded  soldiers  and  destitute  refugees  :  accordingly 
if  a  hospital  train  did  not  have  its  kitchen,  the  defect 
could  be  easily  remedied.  The  Government  pays  for  the 
assistance  given  to  the  wounded  soldiers,  but  the  expense 
of  feeding  the  destitute  refugees  is  met  out  of  the  funds 
of  the  Unions.  The  Union  of  the  Zemstvos  placed  orders 
abroad  for  two  million  pairs  of  boots,  and  further  occupied 
itself  with  procuring  warm  winter  clothing.  The  Moscow 
Committee  devised  a  scheme  whereby  all  secondary  work 
on,  for  example,  such  boots  as  were  not  according  to 
contract  or  spoiled  in  any  way  should  be  given  to  these 
wounded  soldiers  to  work  on  at  home.  All  such  arrange- 
ments of  distribution  of  work  amongst  humbler  individuals 
are  made  by  the  Committee,  who  pays  to  the  workman 
direct  the  whole  of  the  sum  received  from  the  Govern- 
ment for  his  labours.  The  middleman  is  done  away  with 
in  these  cases,  and  wherever  the  city  seal  is  set  upon  goods 
by  the  Committee,  they  are  taken  forthwith  by  the  army 
without  further  enquiry. 

Again,  the  whole  organisation  against  the  outbreak 
of  infectious  disease  was  put  in  the  hands  of  the  Unions, 
the  country  being  divided  up  between  them  for  this  pur- 
pose, with  joint  commissions  where  the  assistance  of 
both  was  required.  The  possibility  was  recognised  of 
many  of  the  towns  being  unable  with  their  scant  revenues 
and  limited  powers  to  carry  out  the  requisite  degree  of 
sanitary  reform  to  meet  certain  abnormal  conditions, 
and  steps  were  taken  to  aid  them.  The  main  endeavour 
of  the  Unions  was  to  secure  sound  internal  organisation 
in  order  that  the  work  entrusted  to  them  might  be  effi- 
ciently carried  out.     The  lack  of  such  organisation  had 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  21 

caused  a  great  and  quite  unnecessary  increase  in  the 
price  of  various  commodities.  Thus  in  some  districts 
there  were  shortages  of  flour  and  oats  which  could  quite 
well  have  been  supplied  from  other  districts  where  there 
was  a  surplusage  :  some  cities  and  districts  were  on  the 
brink  of  famine.  Accordingly,  by  summoning  confer- 
ences for  enquiry  and  in  other  ways,  the  Unions  set  them- 
selves to  assist  the  Government  in  the  rearrangement  of 
transport,  and  in  combating  enhanced  prices  generally. 
Through  all  this  the  relationship  between  these  Unions 
and  the  army  has  come  to  be  one  of  mutual  confidence 
and  understanding,  so  much  so  that  orders  for  goods  were 
not  infrequently  sent  direct  to  them  by  the  "  intendants  " 
(commissariat  officers)  of  regiments  instead  of  round  by 
the  War  Office,  and  the  Government  showed  its  belief  in 
the  efficiency  of  the  Unions  by  overlooking  these  irregu- 
larities and  continuing  to  pay. 

One  other  great  task  was,  however,  still  to  be  laid  upon 
the  Unions  of  the  Towns  and  Zemstvos.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  war  it  was  realised  on  every  hand  that 
Russia  could  not  herself  produce  all  the  munitions  and 
other  requirements  for  a  long  war.  Still  it  was  believed 
that,  unprepared  as  she  was,  she  was  in  a  position  to 
face  a  short  war  if  only  certain  necessary  provision  were 
made.  As  the  war  proceeded  military  commissions  were 
appointed  in  connection  with  the  drawing  up  and  placing 
of  orders  abroad.  A  certain  uneasiness  in  the  country 
on  the  matter  of  sufficiency  of  munitions  was  lulled  for 
the  time  being  by  various  statements  of  the  late  Minister 
of  War  to  the  Duma  in  the  early  months  of  1915.  The 
realisation  that  these  statements  had  been  absolutely 
misleading,  and  that  the  army  was  faced  with  a  serious 
shortage  of  munitions,  moved  the  country  as  no  other 
incident  in  the  war  had  done,  not  even  excepting  the 
Battle  of  Tannenberg.  The  Unions  voiced  the  popular 
demand  for  the  formation  of  a  committee  including 
members  of  the  Duma  to  control  the  orders  for  muni- 


22         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

tions.  Men  coming  back  from  the  front  plainly  said, 
"If  we  do  not  take  immediate  steps  to  organise  for  the 
production  of  munitions,  we  shall  be  beaten."  The 
Government  once  again  turned  to  the  Unions  and  asked 
for  their  assistance.  Out  of  this  arose  the  Military- 
Technical  Committees  of  the  two  Unions,  which  were  at 
first  formed  separately,  but  latterly  have  united,  and 
become  independent  of  the  Unions.  To  their  assistance 
also  came  committees  of  merchants  and  business  men  in 
the  big  cities  who  were  willing  to  organise  themselves 
and  transform  their  factories  into  workshops  for  the  out- 
put of  munitions.  The  Unions  of  the  Zemstvos  and 
Towns,  whose  Military -Technical  Committees  had  a  more 
disinterested  relation  to  the  proposals  in  view  than  these 
other  committees,  worked  for  a  definite  scheme,  according 
to  which  the  Ministry  of  War  should  form  a  commission 
or  council  on  which  there  should  be  representatives  of 
the  Unions,  as  also  of  the  committees  of  the  merchants 
and  other  responsible  bodies  willing  to  act  in  a  co-opera- 
tive way  for  the  common  end.  Their  suggestion  was  that 
this  commission  should  have  full  control,  should  find  out 
what  was  needed  and  should  then  distribute  the  work, 
seeing  to  it  that  the  larger  factories  did  what  they  could 
do  and  not  simply  what  was  easiest  and  most  profitable 
to  do,  difficulties  of  this  nature  arising  early  in  connec- 
tion with  the  making  of  the  larger  shells  and  guns.  Ulti- 
mately a  Special  Munitions  Council  has  been  formed  with 
representatives  from  the  Council  of  Ministers,  Council  of 
the  Empire,  Unions  of  Towns  and  Zemstvos  and  the 
Duma,  to  unify  and  control  the  munitions  work  of  all  the 
different  organisations,  Government  and  other. 

The  Military-Technical  Committee  of  the  All-Russia 
Zemstvo  and  Town  Unions  had  then  in  these  earlier 
days  as  function  to  deal  with  the  furnishing  of  munitions, 
guns,  automobiles,  and  other  war  material.  On  it  were 
three  members  of  each  of  the  Unions  and  a  number  of 
technical  experts.    Its  business  was  to  supply  whatever 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  23 

was  needed  as  quickly,  as  cheaply,  and  as  well  as  possible. 
It  had  to  decide  two  great  questions  about  each  demand 
for  a  specific  necessity, — Can  we  make  it  ?  and,  Can  we 
obtain  it  by  purchase  as  quickly  as  we  can  make  it  ?  In 
each  Government  there  are  small  local  provincial  com- 
mittees working  in  co-operation  with  the  Central  Com- 
mittee. There  are,  for  example,  great  numbers  of  small 
factories  up  and  down  the  country  employing  a  small 
number  of  hands.  The  principles  and  aims  of  the  Central 
Committee  are  made  clear  to  them.  A  small  factory 
finds  itself  unable  to  make  a  complete  shrapnel  shell.  It 
is  then  set  to  work  to  make  a  part :  another  part  is  made 
by  another  small  factory  in  the  district,  and  so  on.  Then 
the  different  parts  are  assembled  together.  All  this  is 
done  by  the  local  Government  (Provincial)  Committees. 
In  the  words  of  a  member  of  the  Committee,  "  The 
question  might  be  asked  of  the  little  factory,  What  can 
you  do  ?  They  may  reply,  We  do  not  know.  Thereupon 
the  question  is,  What  sort  of  machines  have  you  ?  They 
reply,  and  then  an  engineer  is  sent  to  inspect  them.  All 
the  drawings  and  designs  for  stock  material  are  public 
now,  and  given  even  to  these  little  factories.  The  ques- 
tion is  again  put,  Can  you  do  this  or  not  ?  And  the  reply 
comes,  Yes,  but  we  must  receive  an  instructor,  and  we 
need  certain  machinery.  They  are  then  given  advances, 
and  sometimes  we  buy  for  them  and  sometimes  they  buy. 
"  We  are  able  to  effect  a  certain  economy  of  machines 
in  this  way.  Every  one  of  our  river  steamers  has  a 
turning-lathe.  They  are  not  all  in  commission  just  now, 
so  their  engines  have  been  taken  out  and  their  machinery 
employed  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions.  Again,  in 
the  city  of  Moscow  we  have  taken  over  large  establish- 
ments that  ordinarily  make  for  the  tramways  and  water- 
works, and  we  are  arranging  them  not  for  producing 
shells,  but  for  producing  turning-lathes  to  supply  to  the 
other  factories.  This  kind  of  thing  again  is  organised  by 
the  local  committees. 


24         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

"  So  far  we  have  had  only  one  difficulty.  We  can 
only  ask  ;  we  can  propose  ;  we  cannot  say,  You  must. 
We  want  a  right  of  disposition  over  every  factory.  The 
best  workmen  are  all  away  at  the  war.  We  have  just 
received  Government  authorisation  to  prevent  any  more 
being  drafted  off. 

"  A  factory  says,  We  think  we  can  make  that  and 
that  and  that.  We  cannot  say  to  them,  At  what  price  ? 
The  thing  must  be  made  by  them  in  the  first  instance 
so  that  we  can  see  its  quality.  Then  we  say,  The  price 
is  so  and  so.  We  have  our  own  factories  where  every- 
thing is  made  first  for  precise  information,  and  we  can 
therefore  calculate  what  price  includes  a  fair  profit  for 
the  factory  owners  and  the  artel.  But  the  point  is  that 
everything  is  done  empirically.  In  many  cases  there  are 
no  such  goods  as  we  require  on  the  market,  and  we  have 
to  organise.  The  Government  supplies  us  with  all  the 
funds  that  we  require.  We  deal  principally  with  the 
smaller  factories.  The  larger  ones  are  more  commonly 
associated  with  the  Committee  of  the  Merchants." 

Such  then,  in  brief  outline,  is  the  work  of  these  two 
great  Unions,1  under  the  symbol  of  the  Red  Cross.  As 
yet,  however,  these  Unions  have  not  been  judicially 
organised :  they  are  only  co-operations  or  societies. 
Indeed,  the  judicial  character  of  these  Unions  is  not  quite 
clear.     It  raises  many  perplexing  questions  :    hence  so 

1  Their  importance  in  comparison  with  other  organisations  can  be 
judged  by  the  following  figures  (quoted  in  "  The  Times  Russian  Supple- 
ment" for  December  17th,  1915),  representing  the  amount  of  financial 
assistance  given  by  the  Government  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  June  30th,  1915  : — 

All-Russia  Union  of  Zemstvos        .        .        .  71,305,050  rubles. 

All-Russia  Union  of  Towns    ....  28,158,448     „ 

Russian  Red  Cross 28,167,736     „ 

Several  Individual  Zemstvos  .        .        .       7,406,000     ,, 

Petrograd  Municipal  Administration      .        .       9,500,000     ,, 

Moscow  Municipal  Administration         .        .  13,656,000     ,, 

158,193,234  rubles. 
(£16,700,000). 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  25 

far  the  rights  of  the  Unions  are  not  very  defined.  With 
regard  to  the  rights  of  property,  it  is  the  case  that  property 
belongs  to  the  Unions,  but  they  do  not  have  a  strong 
juridical  hold  over  it.  The  Union  of  the  Zemstvos  cannot 
be  said  to  be  more  than  a  particular  form  of  the  con- 
solidation of  these  self-governing  County  Councils. 

Yet  it  is  to  these  Unions  that  there  has  been  suc- 
cessively delegated  by  the  Government  the  greater  share 
in  the  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  the  charge  of  re- 
fugees, the  provision  of  supplies  for  the  army,  and  last 
of  all  the  production  of  munitions.  It  has  only  been 
possible  on  their  part  because  of  organisation,  yet  it 
was  just  because  of  this  organisation  that  the  Govern- 
ment has  feared  to  legalise  the  Unions.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Unions  know  what  they  have  done.  The  Union 
of  the  Towns  practically  grew  up  in  a  week.  It  corre- 
sponds very  closely  to  that  which  urban  life  demands, 
not  merely  for  the  moment,  but  for  the  future.  The  towns 
thus  linked  together  in  territorial  sub-centres  will  not 
hereafter  individually  commence  any  large  undertaking 
without  consulting  their  own  central  organisation.  The 
whole  scheme  is  absolutely  voluntary,  yet  few  of  the 
towns  have  held  aloof  from  it. 

The  Unions  also  know  that  they  have  won  the  com- 
plete confidence  of  the  present  armies  of  the  reserves, 
and  that  by  their  joint  insistence  the  Duma  was  summoned 
in  the  summer  of  1915,  when  Russia  was  face  to  face  with 
the  most  serious  crisis  of  the  war.  The  Government  has 
seen  great  organisations  working  harmoniously  with  it 
and  giving  no  occasion  for  suspicion.  All  that  is  neces- 
sary for  the  future  political  progress  of  Russia  is  to  recog- 
nise that  what  has  been  brought  about  in  the  direction 
of  trustful  co-operation  between  the  people  and  the 
Government  under  the  pressure  of  the  war  is  not  some- 
thing to  go  back  upon  :  thus  from  the  heart  of  a  great 
evil  a  great  good  may  be  wrested. 
The  Zemstvo  is  the  basis  of  political  freedom  in  Russia, 


26         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

and  appears  to  be  the  element  with  which  liberal  govern- 
ment can  best  be  associated.  In  the  Zemstvo  perhaps 
the  natura  rerum  is  stronger,  and  the  practical  results 
are  better  even,  than  in  the  Duma,  because  the  local 
interests  are  not  so  complex  and  they  are  more  real. 
Shipoff,  who  had  so  much  to  do  with  organising  the 
Union  of  Zemstvos,  wanted  the  Duma  to  be  representative 
of  the  Zemstvos — to  be,  in  short,  the  greatest  Zemstvo, 
that  of  the  third  degree.  His  idea  was  to  make  the  large 
towns  electoral  units  in  the  District  and  Provincial 
Zemstvos.  It  is  not  at  all  certain,  however,  that  the 
local  Zemstvos  would  take  altogether  kindly  to  the 
organisation  of  the  Union  as  a  superior  body,  for  the 
former  represent  the  idea  of  decentralisation  ;  they  are 
independent  and  do  not  want  to  be  dependent  on  a  higher 
body.  Duma  and  Zemstvo  alike  realise  that  to  work  at 
all  productively,  they  must  work  with  the  Government  : 
their  ideal  is  to  help  the  Government  to  do  its  work. 
With  a  certain  measure  of  reform  in  the  basis  of  election 
to  Duma  and  Zemstvo  alike — at  present  it  is  very  oli- 
garchical in  both,  much  like  our  own  before  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832 — the  march  of  Russia  towards  the  most 
brilliant  period  in  her  history  is  assured. 

Already  her  publicists  and  statesmen  are  occupying 
their  minds  with  some  of  the  problems  of  the  future. 
The  greatest  of  these  will  be  the  provision  for  her  soldiers. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  find  out  by  conversation  in  hospital 
and  otherwise  how  the  wounded  soldier  himself  is  planning 
out  that  future.  He  wants  a  piece  of  land  of  his  own  on 
which  he  can  settle  down.  The  love  of  the  land  has 
always  been  a  dominant  characteristic  in  the  Russian 
peasant's  mind.  "  The  land,"  he  says,  "  belongs  to  God, 
like  the  water  and  the  air  :  to  possess  it  is  the  reward 
of  the  man  who  works  it."  When  Stolypin  gave  the 
peasant  the  right  to  compel  the  Mir  to  surrender  to  him 
his  share  of  the  commune  land  so  that  he  could  then  sell 
or  do  with  it  what  he  wanted,  he  introduced  a  reform 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  27 

whose  implications  are  only  beginning  to  be  realised. 
The  peasant  may  feel  that  there  are  abuses  in  the  care 
of  its  land  by  the  commune,  and  may  wish  to  have  his 
own  plot  to  work  it  himself.  The  Government  and  com- 
missioners decide  what  is  his  share,  and  if  he  wishes  to 
sell  it  eventually  because  he  wants  to  go  and  work  in  a 
city  factory,  or  is  driven  thereto  by  some  misfortune,  he 
can  only  dispose  of  it  to  a  member  of  his  own  or  some 
neighbouring  Mir.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Mir  system  of 
land  management  is  really  equivalent  to  eternal  poverty, 
and  affords  a  very  striking  argument  against  socialistic 
views.  Between  five  and  six  hundred  thousand  desiatines x 
of  land  are  even  now  annually  bought  in  this  way  by  the 
peasants,  with  the  aid  of  the  Government  Bank.  The 
soldiers  then,  wounded  and  unwounded,  will  wish  to  be 
in  the  position  of  peasants  under  Stolypin's  law,  but  with 
the  land  given  to  them.  But  if  you  give  land  to  the  soldiers 
you  must  give  it  to  the  other  peasants  also.  The  Govern- 
ment will  have  to  divide  up  its  own  holdings  and  also 
buy  land  from  the  landowners  and  give  it  to  the  soldiers. 
Another  important  element  in  the  determination  of 
future  conditions  in  Russia  are  the  prisoners  of  war. 
When  we  consider  that  there  are  some  800,000  Germans 
and  Austrians  interned  in  Central  Russia  from  Vologda 
onwards  into  Siberia,  the  fact  is  astounding  in  itself  with- 
out the  further  statement  that  "  interned  "  is  quite  the 
wrong  word  to  be  used  in  this  connection.  When  the 
first  German  prisoners  were  brought  into  Petrograd  the 
populace  did  not  turn  out  to  stare  or  jeer  at  them.  They 
brought  them  flowers  and  food.  The  captives  were  no 
longer  enemies  because  they  were  prisoners  of  war,  and, 
as  such,  deserving  of  compassion.  In  fact  the  atten- 
tions of  the  populace  became  so  embarrassing  that  the 
Government  had  to  put  a  stop  to  them.  Even  now  in 
Siberia  the  prisoners  of  war  can  hardly  be  said  to 
be  guarded.     In  some  villages  there  are  actually  more 

1  1  desiatine  =  2-7  acres. 


28         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

prisoners  than  male  settlers,  but  this  has  sometimes  led 
to  conditions  demanding  stricter  segregation.  On  the 
whole,  however,  they  go  about,  speak,  insinuate  them- 
selves into  the  life  of  the  community,  and  introduce  new 
ideas  ;  as  a  result  they  already  exercise  a  definite  amount 
of  influence.  Incidentally  it  may  be  stated  that  authorita- 
tive neutral  inspection  has  borne  witness  to  the  very 
generous  treatment  of  their  prisoners  by  the  Russians. 
German  and  Russian  have  been  often  in  the  same  ward  in 
a  hospital  without  discrimination.  In  the  concentration 
camps  there  has  been  an  abundance  of  good  food  and 
remuneration  for  work  done.  Engaged  in  building  boats 
for  river  transit,  these  prisoners  of  war  receive  food  and 
15  kopeks  a  day,  a  few  very  highly  trained  men  receiving 
as  much  as  1|  rubles  a  day.  In  the  Siberian  villages 
they  get  50  kopeks  a  day  and  food  if  they  are  working  for 
the  Government :  if  they  do  not  work  they  receive  21 
kopecs  and  shelter.  But  in  the  villages  in  the  summer 
of  1915,  with  21  kopeks  you  could  buy  two  eggs,  a  good 
slice  of  brown  bread,  a  piece  of  sausage  and  some  tea, 
sugar  and  butter.  Some  were  busily  engaged  at  work  all 
the  time  ;  others  could  not  find  work.  The  commandants 
gave  neutral  visitors  the  impression  of  being  kindly  dis- 
posed to  their  charges.  At  every  point  the  contrast  is 
most  marked  when  compared  with  the  treatment  of  the 
Russian  prisoners  by  the  Germans.  Finally,  it  is  necessary 
to  recollect  that  these  Russian  prisoners  in  Germany,  of 
whom  there  are  a  million,  will  come  back,  whatever 
their  treatment,  with  many  western  ideas.  They  will  have 
seen  how  the  German  peasant  lives  in  his  neat  and  ordered 
cottage,  cultivating  his  own  land.  They  will  have  seen 
things  done  with  method, — they  will  have  seen  them  done. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  then,  Russia  will  probably 
move  rapidly  in  the  matter  of  agrarian  reform.  The  old 
traditions  still  remain  with  a  great  measure  of  their 
power,  but  even  now  in  the  Zemstvos  they  are  giving 
place  to  a  more  democratic  view-point.     The  world  of 


THROUGH  UNION  TO  VICTORY  29 

the  pomyestchik *  is  slowly  passing  away  ;  the  great 
noblemen  are  selling  or  disposing  of  their  lands  and  no 
longer  staying  in  the  villages.  In  the  Governments  of 
Samara  and  Saratoff  there  has  recently  been  a  fall  of 
30  per  cent  in  the  value  of  the  land,  probably  in  part  due 
to  this  cause.  The  price  used  to  be  500  rubles  a  desiatine  : 
now  it  is  more  nearly  350  rubles.  Yet  whatever  the 
readjustments — and  they  are  bound  to  be  numerous — 
before  the  new  stage  of  internal  equilibrium  is  reached, 
they  will  surely  be  of  the  nature  of  that  increased  mutual 
co-operation  between  the  Government  and  its  people 
which  the  war  brought  about,  and  which  the  end  of  the 
war  cannot  finally  take  away. 

1  Smaller  landed  proprietor. 


INTERLUDE 

BY   LITTLE   MOTHER  VOLGA 


INTERLUDE 


BY    LITTLE    MOTHER    VOLGA 


VERY  much  what  "  the  strength  of  the  hills  "  is  to 
the  Waldensian  people,  that  and  something  more 
is  the  Volga  to  the  peasants  who  have  lived  within  the 
manifold  influence  of  its  waters.  For  a  river  is  the  most 
"  living  "  thing  in  inorganic  nature,  and  the  Volga  is  not 
merely  inspiration  and  protection,  but  companionship  to 
these  children  of  nature.  To  their  "  little  mother  "  they 
bring  their  joys  and  sorrows,  finding  in  her  different 
moods  some  faint  and  subtle  reflection  of  what  is  in  their 
own  minds. 

"  Far  away,  far  away  across  the  Volga 
Lie  the  steppes  which  freely  breathe  ; 
And  on  the  steppes  across  the  Volga 
The  free,  free  spirit  lives.  "l 

In  its  power  and  efficiency,  its  unceasing  determined 
achieving,  lessened  perhaps  owing  to  extraneous  causes 
at  one  season  but  renewed  with  increased  force  at  another, 
the  Volga  may  be  held  to  symbolise  the  Russian  army, 
which  retires  only  to  advance  once  again.  It  even  seemed 
probable  that  in  the  regions  adjacent  to  it  there  might 
well  be  found  examples  not  merely  of  efficient  Zemstvo 
administration  and  so  of  the  best  spirit  and  purpose 
behind  the  army,  but  that  also  the  economic  changes  in 
country  life  due  to  the  war  would  be  clearly  noticeable. 

This  is  certainly  the  case  in  the  Government  of  Kos- 
troma, where  can  be  studied,  perhaps  at  its  highest  de- 

1  Translation,  Josephine  Calina. 
d  33 


34         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY   OF  RUSSIA 

velopment,  that  interested  oversight  which  wraps  around 
the  life  of  its  peasants,  one  might  almost  say  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  I  wanted  to  see  something  of  the 
country  under  a  Zemstvo  that  e.g.  hires  out  good  steel 
ploughs  to  its  peasants  at  15  kopeks  a  day,  harrows  and 
sowers  at  50  kopeks,  and  a  reaper  at  1  ruble  a  day  ;  that 
sends  around  its  thrashing-machines,  charging  the 
peasants  half  a  kopek  a  pood, x  and  loans  them  50  rubles 
for  as  many  kopeks  a  month, — half  a  day's  wage — in 
place  of  the  12  per  cent  exacted  by  the  Jews. 

I  started  from  the  district  town  of  Kinyeshma,  which 
had  made  a  very  patriotic  response  to  the  summons  for 
aid  to  the  army.  The  local  committee  acting  with  the 
Union  of  Towns  had  agreed  to  arrange  for  570  beds  for 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers  on  funds  provided  by  the 
Union.  In  addition  the  wealthier  merchants  and  other 
private  individuals  got  together  and  added  500  beds  at 
their  own  expense.  Then  the  District  Zemstvo  arranged 
for  another  150,  and  finally  a  local  committee  of  the 
Red  Cross  Society  arranged  for  yet  225  beds  more,  and 
actually  works  in  this  instance  under  the  local  committee 
of  the  Unions,  who  have  absolute  autonomy  in  connection 
with  the  arrangements,  whether  these  are  paid  for  by  the 
Government  or  not.  Fifty  thousand  rubles  were  also 
collected  locally  for  a  Red  Cross  Field  Hospital,  and  the 
town  has  likewise  supplied  its  own  hospital  train.  A 
district  committee  was  also  formed  to  aid  the  soldiers' 
families.  All  this  is  just  the  fruitage  of  its  ordinary 
activities. 

In  the  local  Zemsky  hospital  in  Kinyeshma,  which 
might  draw  on  a  population  of  170,000,  there  are  some 
50,000  visits  per  annum  ;  the  institution  is  supported  at 
an  annual  cost  of  40,000  rubles.  In  the  whole  District, 
of  which  there  are  twelve  in  the  Government  or  Province 
of  Kostroma,  there  are  fifteen  hospitals.  With  regard  to 
veterinary  work,  the  uyezd  or  district  is  subdivided  into 
1  =40  lbs.  Russ. 


BY  LITTLE  MOTHER  VOLGA  35 

six  regions.  The  Zemstvos  give  all  the  necessary  treat- 
ment free.  For  example,  at  the  moment,  a  peasant  had 
his  horse  in  the  local  establishment  undergoing  treatment 
for  a  month.  He  paid  nothing  :  all  he  had  to  do  was  to 
supply  its  feeding.  Again,  if  the  Head  of  the  Department 
has  to  go  for  purposes  of  enquiry  to  any  point  on  a  sum- 
mons from  the  villagers,  his  mission  is  conducted  at  the 
expense  of  the  Zemstvo.  He  even  extends  his  interests 
to  looking  after  stray  dogs,  thus  preventing  disease,  and 
makes  a  standing  offer  of  5  rubles  for  every  wolf's  tail 
brought  in  by  a  peasant.  The  budget  of  1,422,000  rubles 
is  in  part  subsidised  by  the  Government.  In  the  same 
way  the  District  Zemstvo  takes  a  direct  interest  in  the 
peasants'  horse-breeding  in  the  district,  and  has  estab- 
lished ten  centres  to  aid  them.  As  the  result  of  its  repre- 
sentation, the  Government  commandeered  only  600  out 
of  the  22,000  horses  in  the  district  for  war  purposes. 
Further,  the  Zemstvo  sells  4000  copies  daily  of  a  broad- 
sheet with  war  news  at  the  nominal  price  of  1  kopek. 

This  District  Zemstvo  likewise  looks  well  after  education 
within  its  boundaries,  having  152  primary  schools,  to  which 
should  be  added  a  further  twenty-two  that  are  distinc- 
tively church  schools.  In  these  the  course  lasts  three  to 
four  years.  There  are,  besides,  twelve  schools  directly 
under  the  Ministry  of  Education,  distributed  mainly  in 
the  towns — a  higher  class  of  primary  school,  for  which  the 
Government  pays  in  part,  with  a  five  years'  course  of 
training.  There  is  still  a  higher  type  of  school  (secondary) 
found  only  in  the  towns,  where  the  course  is  from  seven 
to  eight  years.  Throughout  the  district  there  is  a  school 
on  every  three-verst  circle  drawn  from  the  principal  towns 
as  centres,  and  similarly  a  hospital  on  every  ten-verst 
circle. 

Further,  there  are  within  a  radius  of  twelve  versts  some 
ten  points  at  which  the  peasants  can  obtain  agricultural 
implements  on  hire.  In  Kinyeshma  itself  there  is  an 
admirable  little  department  with   models  and  demon- 


\ 


36         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

strations  of  the  main  points  of  practical  interest  in  con- 
nection with  agriculture  and  farming  generally.  Mention 
should  also  be  made  of  the  twenty-two  "  Credit  Com- 
panies," and  of  the  local  Zemstvo  bank  that  aids  them. 
Its  balance  stood  at  220,000  rubles  in  midsummer  of 
1915, — above  the  normal. 

It  was  a  Committee  of  the  Zemstvo  likewise  that  under- 
took the  organisation  of  the  smaller  factories  in  the 
district  for  munitions.  At  the  first  meeting  the  factory 
owners  thought  that  they  could  turn  out  100  shells  a  day 
between  them,  but  after  some  arrangement  and  organisa- 
tion they  suggested  they  might  attempt  several  hundred  : 
after  having  actually  got  to  work  they  found  that  they 
could  do  even  more.  One  individual  offered  to  make  four 
shells  a  day,  and  found  he  could  do  fifty  when  he  under- 
took nothing  else.  So  gradually,  all  over,  each  man,  as 
he  tried,  found  he  could  do  more  than  he  thought  at  first 
was  possible. 

A  journey  through  several  villages  in  the  district — 
those  smaller  villages  without  a  church  that  are  known 
as  derevnya,  and  the  larger  type  of  village  with  a  church 
that  is  called  selo — disclosed  many  interesting  data.  In 
particular  the  evidence  of  the  growth  of  the  co-operative 
movement  was  very  striking.  In  one  village  a  member- 
ship of  ninety  had  bought  provisions  to  the  value  of  5000 
rubles  in  a  year  :  in  another,  124  members  had  bought 
to  the  value  of  15,000  rubles.  The  membership  fee  is 
5  rubles.  From  the  Zemstvo  the  store  may  receive  credit 
for  1000  rubles,  but  the  credit  may  not  be  greater  than 
the  amount  of  the  foundation  capital.  There  are  forty 
such  stores  in  two  districts  in  the  Kostroma  Government, 
turning  over  380,000  rubles  worth  of  business  in  the  year. 
Although  the  Government  had  much  to  do  with  the 
starting  of  the  co-operative  movement,  yet  it  is  some- 
what afraid  of  its  powers  of  organisation,  while  the  Jews 
likewise  oppose  it  as  tending  to  take  business  out  of  their 
hands.      The    co-operative    movement    may,    however, 


BY  LITTLE  MOTHER  VOLGA  37 

become  an  important  factor  in  the  solution  of  the  Jewish 
problem.  Through  its  rapid  growth,  as  well  as  through 
the  spread  of  education,  and  the  additional  impulse  to 
life  in  all  its  forms  that  has  resulted  from  the  prohibition 
of  vodka,  the  Russian  will  be  better  able  to  hold  his  own  / 
against  the  often  unscrupulous  Jew,  and  be  relieved  from  f- 
the  necessity  of  employing  adventitious  means  to  assist 
him  in  the  struggle  with  his  more  enterprising  neighbour. 
In  one  village,  even  in  these  days  of  war,  a  fine  new 
school  was  being  put  up  with  equipment  for  scholars  of 
two  grades,  and  with  quarters  for  the  teachers  in  the 
same  building.  More  symptomatic  of  the  times  was  a 
single  old  man  sitting  outside  the  Volostnoye  Pravlenie  ;  * 
ordinarily  many  young  men  would  have  been  seen  stroll- 
ing about  in  the  quiet  of  a  Sunday  afternoon.  In  the 
remainder  of  the  long  village  street  women  only  were  in 
evidence,  except  when  a  wounded  man  with  a  little  boy 
to  assist  him  limped  across  the  road.  Many  of  the  houses 
were  ornamented  with  carving  and  lattice-work  of  a 
rather  high  order.  Outside  another  village  in  a  pine  wood 
a  sanatorium  for  the  consumptives  in  the  district  was  in 
process  of  construction.  Three  wooden  houses,  each 
capable  of  accommodating  ten  patients,  had  been  already 
built,  while  other  three  were  in  process  of  construction,  as 
also  separate  quarters  for  physicians,  kitchen  and  dining- 
room,  etc.  At  another  point  we  turned  aside  from  the 
main  road  to  visit  one  of  the  new  district  hospitals.  It 
was  a  small  up-to-date  building,  fitted  throughout  with 
its  own  telephone  and  electric  light  installations.  It  com- 
prised four  "  wards  "  and  a  perfectly  lighted  operating- 
room  with  blue  tiled  floor,  and  white  tiles  of  English  make 
all  round  the  walls  to  a  distance  of  5  feet  from  the  floor. 
Such  a  hospital  to  accommodate  fifteen  patients  is  erected 
within  a  radius  of  ten  versts  from  each  of  certain  central 
points.      Then  once   again  we  crossed  the  Volga  and 

1  Government  Administration  Bureau  for  a  volost  (sub-division  of  a 
uyezd  or  district). 


38         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

regained  Kinyeshma  by  a  first-class  chaussee  made  at  a 
cost  of  700,000  rubles  to  100  versts.  Twenty-eight  versts 
of  this  road  were  under  actual  construction  at  the  moment, 
and  it  traversed  a  tributary  of  the  Volga  by  a  bridge  14 
sajens1  in  length,  which  cost  40,000  rubles.  All  these 
activities  are  Zemstvo  work. 

The  journey  ends  in  a  summer  home,  on  a  day  that 
happened  to  be  the  golden  wedding  of  the  owner,  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  landowner.  There  is  a  wealth  of 
evidence  of  affectionate  remembrance  on  the  part  of 
those  who  share  his  friendship  and  his  interest.  Moving 
about  on  the  lawn  are  all  those  different  elements  that 
go  to  compose  the  varied  aspects  of  country  official  life, 
together  with  some  life-long  friends  who  have  made  a 
tedious  journey  from  different  centres  to  celebrate  the 
day.  Towards  evening  a  repast  is  spread  under  the  trees, 
at  which  with  exquisite  graciousness  the  first  public 
tribute  from  the  host  is  to  his  country's  British  ally. 
Later,  his  words  returning  thanks  for  the  toast  of  the 
evening  are  interrupted  by  loud  cries  of  "  Gorko,  Gorko," — 
"The  wine  is  bitter,  you  must  sweeten  it" — which  he  does 
in  the  recognised  fashion  by  embracing  his  partner  of  so 
many  lustrums.  The  artificial  lighting  on  and  around  the 
long  table  seems  to  gain  in  strength  as  the  light  of  day 
vanishes,  and  the  stars  work  their  way  through  the 
branches  of  the  overhanging  trees.  Talk  continues  brightly, 
engaging  your  interest  in  the  immediate  surroundings, 
until  in  some  pause  you  look  up  and  see  not  ten  yards 
off,  standing  in  rows  beside  the  trees  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  table,  white-kerchiefed  heads,  some  of  them 
bent,  regarding  the  feast  in  ghostlike  quiet, —  peasant 
women  and  a  few  men  who  have  crept  up  unnoticed  like 
the  spirits  in  Dante's  word-pictures, — that  patient,  silent 
and  enduring  throng  that  will  one  day  become  vocal  in 
the  development  of  Russia.  The  supper  is  over,  and  they 
1  1  sajen  =  7  feet. 


r 


A    SINGLE    OLD    MAN    SITTING    OUTSIDE    THE    VOLOSTNOYE    PRAVLENIE. 


ORNAMEN 


BY  LITTLE  MOTHER  VOLGA  39 

move  on  to  the  lawn, — young  girls  made  to  look  older 
than  they  are  by  reason  of  their  dress,  men  always  with 
their  leather-peaked  blue  or  black  cloth  cap,  red  or  blue 
rubashka  hanging  free  and  sometimes  covered  by  a  coat, 
and  dark  blue  trousers  tucked  into  their  long  black  boots. 
Under  the  solvent  influence  of  the  balalaika1  and  their 
master's  invitation,  their  serious  demeanour  begins  to 
vanish,  the  brighter  side  of  their  natures  with  its  engaging 
mischievousness  appears,  and  finally  they  have  to  be 
reminded  that  it  is  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  ere 
they  can  be  prevailed  upon  to  cease  their  singing  and 
their  dancing. 

1  Characteristic  three-stringed  lute. 


THEME   II 

SOME   ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS 


THEME  II 


SOME   ECONOMIC   PROBLEMS 


ACCORDING  to  the  Ministerial  Report  on  the 
-£a_  Financial  and  Economic  Position  of  the  Russian 
Empire,1  the  State  Revenue  for  the  seven  first  months 
of  1915  showed  a  deficit  of  some  482  million  rubles  com- 
pared with  the  revenue  for  the  corresponding  months  of 
the  previous  year.  Of  this  deficit  460  millions  are  due  to 
the  suppression  of  the  liquor  monopoly.  Figures  such  as 
these,  together  with  the  question  of  our  whole  economic 
and  financial  relationship  to  our  ally,  not  merely  at 
present  but  also  as  regards  the  future,  demand  earnest 
and  sympathetic  consideration. 

The  situation  can  be  most  helpfully  understood  if  we 
attempt,  in  the  first  instance,  to  approach  it  from  the 
Russian  point  of  view.  With  that  object,  it  may  be  useful 
to  attempt  to  reproduce  the  tenor  of  a  conversation 
with  a  leading  Russian  university  professor  of  Economics. 
He  started  from  the  position  that  Russia  could  not  win 
this  war  without  the  help  of  France  and  Britain,  any 
more  than  Britain  could  win  it  without  the  assistance  of 
France  and  Russia.  Having  been  detained  a3  a  prisoner 
in  Germany  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  war, 
although  with  a  degree  of  freedom  that  was  not  accorded 
to  British  subjects  similarly  circumstanced,  he  was  able 
to  speak  with  a  measure  of  knowledge  and  experience 
possessed  by  few.  The  significance  of  his  statements  is 
deepened   when   we   recollect   the   serious   efforts   that 

1  See  "  The  Times  Russian  Supplement,"  January  15th,  1916. 

43 


44         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

Germany  has  made  more  than  once  during  the  past  few 
months  to  detach  our  Russian  allies.  Germany  would 
make  peace  at  once  with  Russia  if  the  latter  country 
gave  the  slightest  hint  of  wishing  to  retire  from  the  con- 
test :  she  has  counted  on  this  from  the  beginning.  Ger- 
many would  ask  no  indemnity  of  Russia  ;  she  would  even 
be  prepared  to  retire  from  all  the  Russian  territory  already 
occupied,  and  make  a  new  trade  treaty  with  that  country 
that  would  be  fair  to  both  sides.  The  last  trade  treaty, 
made  under  the  pressure  of  Russia's  situation  during  the 
Japanese  War,  was  notoriously  one-sided  and  unfair. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  manifold  nature  of  the 
attempts  that  have  been  made  upon  the  loyalty  of  our 
Russian  allies — attempts  not  merely  due  to  the  obvious 
fact  that,  should  they  succeed,  Germany  would  be  in  a 
position  to  devote  all  her  energy  to  the  struggle  with 
France  and  Britain,  but  to  the  more  important,  because 
more  fundamental,  fact  of  a  well-developed  German 
consciousness  that  Russia  is  the  one  nation  amongst  her 
adversaries  with  whom  she  could  whole-heartedly  co- 
operate in  economic  and  political  endeavour. 

But  to  return.  "  Starting  from  these  premises,"  con- 
tinued my  friend,  "  what  should  we  aim  at,  as  a  com- 
munity of  allies,  in  order  to  win  the  war  ?  "  He  assured 
me  that  determination  to  carry  the  war  to  a  victorious 
conclusion  was  the  leading  characteristic  of  the  Russian 
body,  commercial  and  political,  to-day.  Referring  to 
the  unfairness  of  the  past  conditions  of  trade  between 
Germany  and  Russia,  he  said  that  his  fellow-countrymen 
looked  upon  the  war  as  a  struggle  with  a  nation  ungrate- 
ful to  the  people  that  had  practically  fed  them  during 
the  last  thirty  years.  "  Not  only  did  we  export  grain 
to  them  without  their  having  to  pay  duty  on  it,  but  also 
food  for  cattle,  so  that  their  cattle  industry  flourished, 
while  on  all  chemical  products  and  on  all  machinery  taken 
by  us  a  special  tariff  was  fixed  favourable  to  the  Germans. 
More  than  half  of  our  imports  came  from  Germany,  and 


SOME  ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS  45 

under  tariff  conditions  that  were  solely  in  her  favour. 
America,  of  course,  sends  us  machinery,  but  then  she 
does  not  want  our  grain. 

"  To-day  the  situation  is  like  this.  There  is  much 
hatred  of  the  Germans,  not  only  of  those  belonging  to 
that  nation,  but  also  of  their  descendants  in  our  country, 
because  in  their  hands  is  a  great  part  of  the  German  trade. 
Germans,  when  they  came  to  Russia,  became  naturalised 
here,  or  married  Russians,  and  so  formed  a  special  class 
amongst  the  Russian  people.  That  is  to  say,  they  are 
not  Germans  from  the  standpoint  of  the  State,  but  they 
are  Germans  by  creed  and  origin.  Such  conditions  as 
you  find  here  would  be  practically  impossible  in  any 
other  country  in  the  world — e.g.  the  existence  of  a  great 
colony  of  Russian  subjects  who  are  Germans  by  creed 
and  language  and  birth.  There  are  hundreds  of  families 
in  Moscow  who  cannot  speak  Russian  at  all.  The  Rus- 
sians call  the  Germans  '  nyemtsi,'  i.e.  '  the  dumb,' — 
those  who  cannot  speak  Russian.  Indeed  there  is  a 
special  society  in  Moscow  to  propagate  the  German 
language,  manners  and  ideas,  and  to  it  belong  many 
Russian  subjects  of  German  origin.  The  present  hatred 
of  Germany  is  directed  not  only  against  true  Germans, 
but  also  against  those  Russians  of  German  descent.  Can 
it  be,  then,  that  in  place  of  this  German  influence  in  our 
industry  we  may  feel  the  influence  of  Britain  and  of 
France,  of  America  and  of  Sweden  ?  What  are  the 
special  possibilities  of  this  being  achieved  in  one  case 
more  than  in  the  other  ? 

"  Consider  the  conditions  of  the  economic  development 
of  any  country  in  the  world  to-day.  Without  the  aid  of 
foreign  capital  such  development  is  absolutely  impossible  ; 
especially  is  this  so  in  the  case  of  a  country  financially 
ruined  by  war.  Everybody  knows  that  the  first  great 
capitalists  in  England  were  Italians,  until  Whittington 
and  others  financially  expelled  them  and  they  were  re- 
placed by  English  merchants.    The  same  thing  occurred 


46         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

in  France,  whose  industry  had  its  origin  in  German 
capital.  Likewise  Italian  and  Dutch  capital  was  origin- 
ally of  foreign  origin,  and  the  same  is  true  of  America. 
The  present  development  of  German  industry  could 
never  have  been  accomplished  without*  those  five  milliard 
marks  of  (1870)  French  origin.  And  the  same  is  true  of 
Russia.  She  stands  under  the  same  necessity  for  foreign 
capital,  particularly  seeing  that  German  capital  here  will 
go  back  to  Germany,  or  rather  that  no  fresh  German 
capital  can  come  in.  German  capital  was  exceedingly 
well  placed  in  Russia — in  the  banks,  so  that  it  could  be 
taken  away  at  once.  We  spoke  of  it  as  '  boarding-house 
capital '  (kapital  penzionat).  Now  all  this  and  other 
forms  of  German  capital  we  have  to  replace,  and  we  shall 
not  be  in  the  same  financial  situation,  of  course,  for  years 
to  come,  wherever  the  capital  comes  from.  The  feeling 
against  Germany  is,  however,  so  widespread  and  pro- 
found that  there  is  no  great  probability  of  German  capital 
being  welcomed  for  a  long  period  after  the  war.  Our 
great  pressing  necessity,  however,  is  that  of  having  better 
conditions  for  purchasing  the  foreign  articles  necessary 
for  our  army.  Now  there  are  only  two  conditions  of 
obtaining  rates  for  foreign  bills,  either  by  buying  with 
gold  or  by  exporting.  There  is,  indeed,  a  third  possibility 
— that  of  paying  by  sending  back  funds,  e.g.  in  the  case 
of  Britain,  in  the  shape  of  consols  and  other  securities. 
But  in  Russia  there  is  no  considerable  quantity  of  British 
securities,  as  she  had  not  enough  capital  to  purchase 
foreign  investments.  Accordingly,  only  the  first  two 
methods  are  really  open  to  Russia. 

"  Now  with  regard  to  the  first  possibility,  Russia  has 
at  present  150  million  sterling  in  gold  in  the  State  Banks, 
but  this  she  cannot  send  away  because  she  requires  it 
in  order  to  be  able  to  re-establish  her  currency  after  the 
war.  In  Russia  itself  the  currency  has  not  depreciated 
at  all.  The  depreciation  of  the  Russian  currency  on  the 
world's  markets  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  real 


SOME  ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS  47 

value  of  the  Russian  currency  in  the  country  itself.  So 
that  when  you  consider  that  Russia  has  about  £5  to  £7 
sterling  in  gold  for  every  Russian  family,  it  really  means 
that  she  has  so  much  gold  that  at  any  time  the  Russian 
gold  circulation  can  be  re-established.  But  this  can  be 
only  under  one  condition,  viz.  that  the  foreign  rates  of 
the  pound  sterling,  as  of  American,  Swedish,  or  French 
money,  are  at  such  a  standard  height  that  they  are  not 
dangerous  to  the  Russian  gold  accumulations.  Sufficient 
credit  must  be  opened  abroad  for  the  payments  that  have 
to  be  made  in  Britain,  France,  Italy,  etc.  We  have  to 
pay  40  million  sterling  abroad  annually  without  being  in 
a  position  at  present  to  export  anything,  and  we  have  to 
keep  on  doing  this  till  we  have  the  possibility  again  of 
exporting.  What  is  the  prospect  that  we  can  continue 
to  do  this  ?  " 

In  answering  his  self-imposed  question,  my  friend 
never  let  the  other  question  of  the  relation  of  British  to 
Russian  trade  remain  very  long  in  the  background.  For 
to  his  mind  the  two  ought  to  be,  in  great  measure,  one. 
He  seemed  to  think  that  the  British  business  world  was 
in  some  danger  of  too  often  opening  credit  with  private 
Russian  enterprise  of  a  somewhat  speculative  character, 
instead  of  opening  a  credit  under  the  direction  of  the 
Russian  Government,  where  they  could  ensure  conditions 
— demand  and  get  them — such  as  could  not  be  given  in 
private  undertakings.  The  present  high  rate  of  exchange 
was  an  abnormal  condition,  and  the  English  business 
world  should  be  willing  to  try  and  reasonably  come  to 
some  understanding  with  the  Russian  business  world 
with  regard  to  this,  as  also  when  the  latter  gave  orders 
for  goods  in  a  form  that  did  not  exactly  suit  the  British 
firms. 

"  It  is  well  known,"  he  said,  "  that  Russian  merchants 
have  endeavoured  to  secure  from  Britain  the  importa- 
tion of  raw  (Australian)  wool.  The  answer  that  our  people 
received  was  that  the  British  trading  world  preferred  to 


48  THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

send  us  cloth.  That  type  of  answer  is  sometimes  difficult 
for  us  to  understand.  Our  merchants  tend  to  think, 
'  Britain  evidently  does  not  want  us  to  develop  that  kind 
of  industry  over  here  :  indeed  she  wishes  to  do  every- 
thing for  us  ;  all  that  she  wants  us  to  do  is  to  pay.'  Per- 
sonally I  would  prefer  that  some  of  the  Russian  factories 
should  be  closed  down  :  their  standard  of  production  is 
so  poor  that  they  would  be  better  closed.  And  we  have 
such  a  high  protective  tariff  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
am  not  wearing  at  this  moment  a  single  Russian  article 
of  clothing.  I  can  buy  underwear  in  London  for  7s.  6d. 
that  will  cost  me  ten  rubles  here." 

"  Are  we  then  to  do  away  with  our  protective  tariff  ? 
I  do  not  know.  There  are  hundreds  of  factories  in  Russia 
to-day  which  were  established  to  work  under  the  pro- 
tection of  our  tariff.  Machinery  has  been  bought  at  twice 
its  real  cost  under  this  tariff.  And  if  you  pay  more  for  all 
your  raw  materials  (e.g.  coal)  than  in  other  countries, 
you  cannot  expect  to  produce  cheaply.  I  think  on  general 
principles  that  it  would  be  good  for  Russia  to  do  away 
with  protection  :  practically,  at  present,  she  is  not  in  a 
position  to  do  so." 

"  The  essential  point  is,  however,  our  need  of  foreign 
capital  in  the  immediate  future  :  without  it  Russia  can- 
not develop.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that  capital  loaned 
to  us  during  the  war  by  you  should  be  allowed  to  remain 
with  us,  and  not  be  repaid  immediately  after  the  war, 
otherwise  you  simply  leave  us  alone  again  to  engage  in 
an  economic  warfare  with  Germany.  If  there  is  credit, 
not  merely  individual  and  private  but  also  national 
and  international,  then  economy  would  be  better  under- 
stood and  practised  :  in  fact,  it  must  be  guided  by  the 
State. 

"  There  is  little  that  Russia  can  do  for  Britain  at 
present :  there  is  much  that  Britain  can  do  for  Russia 
both  financially  and  politically.  Amongst  our  labouring 
classes  it  is  sometimes  said,  '  This  war  was  necessary  for 


SOME   ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS  49 

the  ideas  and  schemes  of  Britain,'  but  that,  of  course,  is 
the  mere  suggestion  of  pro-German  influences  at  work 
amongst  them  which  will  prove  futile.  Is  not  the  line 
of  sound  and  large-hearted  action  to  realise  that  we  are 
linked  together  in  a  great  struggle  for  noble  ends,  and  let 
the  realisation  of  that  fact  determine  our  relationships 
with  one  another,  not  merely  in  the  present  but  for  the 
future  ?  Are  we  not  fighting  together  simply  to  ensure 
that  Europe  does  not  lose  her  real  culture,  otherwise  she 
will  be  lost  indeed  ?  Our  country  has  not  always  been 
wisely  guided,  and  it  may  be  badly  guided  in  the  future. 
There  is  a  certain  insecurity  of  life  and  property  in  Russia, 
which  all  intelligent  Russians  are  striving  to  have  re- 
moved :  you  can  aid  us  in  that.  I  think  I  can  see  much 
that  requires  reform  even  in  Britain,  much  that  could  be 
changed  in  the  common  interests  of  Britain,  France,  and 
Russia,  points  where  in  some  cases  we  could  help  you  with 
our  experience.  Are  not  these  the  general  lines  along 
which  we  should  strive  to  move  together,  and  carry  the 
spirit  of  them  into  the  details  ?  " 

As  the  situation  began  to  shape  itself  in  my  mind 
under  the  informing  tuition  of  my  friend,  it  seemed  to 
become  increasingly  clear  that  the  best  way  to  help 
ourselves  was  really  to  help  Russia.  "  Give  us  your 
munitions,  we  have  the  men,"  said  a  Duma  party  leader. 
"  Give  us  your  capital ;  we  need  it,  and  have  the  best 
field  for  its  employment,"  my  Economics  friend  seemed 
to  be  saying,  thinking  both  of  the  present  and  of  the 
future.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  Shingarev, 
Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Duma,  in  a 
recent  speech  bore  out  indirectly  many  of  the  above 
contentions.  "  The  situation  of  Russia,"  so  he  said,  "is 
not  exceptional,  compared  with  that  of  France  and  Ger- 
many, since  at  this  moment  Russia  holds  the  greatest 
cover  in  gold  for  her  paper  money,  with  the  exception 
perhaps  of  Great  Britain,  where  free  exchange  has  never 
ceased.  .  .  .  We  are  proud  to  proclaim  aloud  that  in 


50         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

the  whole  financial  history  of  Russia  there  has  not  been 
a  moment  when  she  has  delayed  in  paying  her  creditors."1 

One  factor  that  lends  itself  very  easily  to  misunder- 
standing is  the  conditions  produced  by  an  abnormal  rate 
of  exchange.  When  the  Russian  has  to  put  down  170 
rubles  to  meet  a  payment  of  £10  sterling,  as  was  done  in 
Moscow  in  the  month  of  July,  1915,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if  he  tends  to  think  that  some  advantage  is  being 
taken  of  him  by  his  ally.  The  whole  situation  is  probably 
clear  to  the  economist,  but  the  average  man  is  not  a 
trained  economist.  It  is,  probably,  too  late  to  meet  it 
by  fixing  a  general  rate  of  exchange,  say  12 J  rubles  to 
the  £1,  with  an  agreement  to  settle  up  differences,  which- 
ever way  they  may  be,  three  months  after  the  war,  or 
by  the  more  heroic  suggestion  of  a  Moscow  banker  that 
we  should  continue  to  buy  and  pay  for  such  a  material 
as  wool,  and  leave  it  in  Russia  till  it  can  be  exported. 
Something  has  been  done  in  the  former  direction,  but  there 
is  scope  for  more  detailed  and  thoroughgoing  team  work 
amongst  the  Allies  here  as  in  other  directions.  And  in 
any  case  there  is  an  attitude  that  we  can  adopt  which 
will  go  far  towards  alleviating  the  situation,  and  be 
helpful  in  regard  to  the  future  business  relations  between 
Great  Britain  and  Russia. 

In  the  first  place,  we  should  remember  the  peculiar 
situation  of  Russia.  In  blockading  Germany  we  can  yet 
make  profits,  because  we  trade  with  the  whole  world. 
To  France  and  Italy  likewise  the  seas  are  open,  with 
their  possibilities  of  gain.  But  Russia,  with  one  insignifi- 
cant exception,  has  no  sea  free  and  so  cannot  export.  In 
so  far  as  Russia  blockades  Germany,  she  blockades  herself. 

In  the  second  place,  as  a  trading  community,  we  must 
realise  that  while  there  will  be  very  much  business  to 
transact  in  our  own  country  and  in  the  Empire  after  the 
war,  yet  we  are  not  merely  citizens  of  the  British  Empire, 
but  members  of  another  community  that  embraces 
1  Reuter's  Telegram  of  September  1st,  1915. 


SOME   ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS  51 

Russia,  France,  and  Italy,  and  that  we  have  to  settle 
together  questions  of  the  greatest  importance.  We  must 
have  a  clear  idea  of  a  common  policy,  an  idea  that  shall 
be  above  the  unworthy  outlook  that  would  simply  regard 
Russia  as  a  sort  of  trading  colony.  There  must  be  a 
genuine  co-ordination  of  interests  and  of  foreign  capital. 

This  means  that  it  is  essential  that  all  British  capital 
lent  to  Russia  during  the  war  should  be  allowed  to 
remain  there  after  the  war,  otherwise  she  will  be  in  grave 
danger  of  becoming  economically  involved  again  to  her 
detriment  with  Germany,  in  spite  of  the  present  tremen- 
dous determination  to  put  the  Teutonic  influence  out  of 
her  national  life. 

Finally,  we  must  bear  in  mind,  before  all  thoughts  of 
material  gain,  that  we  are  fighting  together  with  this 
particular  country  amongst  others  in  the  interests  of 
true  culture.  If  some  of  the  material  fruits  of  our  ulti- 
mate victory  are  garnered  by  other  nations  without 
their  having,  so  to  speak,  paid  for  them,  it  is  an  enormous 
pity — for  these  nations.  We,  of  the  Entente,  are  a  com- 
munity fighting  for  culture  in  its  truest  and  highest  sense, 
as  Europe  has  often  done  before,  and  other  countries 
will  gain  by  it.  But  consider  what  this  means.  Germany 
is  losing  every  day  great  numbers  of  her  really  cultured 
people.  Out  of  2000  students  in  Carlsruhe  Polytechnicum 
only  128  were  left  by  the  end  of  July,  1915,  including 
women  and  foreigners.  What  will  remain  to  Germany 
of  any  kind  of  culture  if  figures  such  as  these  are  at  all 
general  ?  From  the  standpoint  of  the  highest  culture  we 
have  to  fight  together  to  ensure  its  persistence,  otherwise 
Europe  is  lost.  Surely  the  nations  that  have  been  linked 
together  to  secure  so  high  and  noble  an  aim  should  be 
prepared  to  carry  its  spirit  into  the  adjustment  of 
secondary  and  more  mundane  matters. 

If  now  this  general  point  of  view  commends  itself  to 
the  British  trading  public,  it  would  seem  imperative  to 
begin  to  act  upon  it  at  once.    Some  of  the  specific  Russian 


52         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

suggestions  made  to  one  could  not  very  easily  be  accepted. 
Thus  it  was  said  :  "  Our  export  trade  has  been  mainly 
to  Germany,  and  we  have  now  to  find  new  outlets  for 
the  500  million  rubles  that  we  used  to  place  with  her. 
In  particular  we  desire  Britain  and  France  as  new  outlets. 
Could  Britain  during  the  war  period,  after  the  opening  of 
the  Dardanelles,  not  prefer  Russian  to  American  grain  ?  " l 
Nevertheless  the  spirit  of  that  point  of  view  can  always 
be  maintained.  The  need  for  prompt  action  lies  in  the 
circumstance  that  thousands  of  Germans  who  are  now  in- 
terned in  Russia  will  attempt  to  return  to  their  businesses 
there  as  soon  as  peace  is  declared,  just  as  if  nothing  had 
ever  happened. 

There  is  one  feature,  however,  in  which  those  who  are 
willing  to  pursue  this  line  of  action  feel  themselves  to  be 
heavily  handicapped  by  their  own  Government.  Their 
subject  of  complaint  is  an  Act  of  Parliament2  for  the 
existence  of  which  there  may  be  sound  reasons,  but  whose 
specifications  contrast  very  sharply  with  the  facility 
given  from  Berlin  for  German  residents  abroad  to  retain 
or  resume  their  German  nationality  and  thus  assist 
in  Germanising  the  world.  In  order  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  degree  of  feeling  caused  by  this  legislation  amongst 
sections  of  British  communities  in  Russia,  I  quote  from  a 
document  issued  to  business  firms  at  home  under  date 
May,  1915,  by  two  British  residents  in  Russia  of  long 
standing,  who  have  interested  themselves  particularly  in 
the  extension  of  British  trade  there.  "  There  are  at 
least,"  they  say,  "  three  million  British  subjects  in  foreign 
countries,  most  of  them  as  loyal  and  patriotic  as  anybody 
in  the  British  Isles,  and  amongst  these  voluntary  exiles, 
whose  sons  are  joining  Kitchener's  army  and  fighting 
the  nation's  battles,  our  authorities  are  carrying  on  a 
veritable  persecution.  On  January  1st  of  this  year  a 
most  incomprehensible  Act  of  Parliament  came  into  force, 
whereby  the  second  generation  of  foreign-born  Britishers 

1  See  Appendix,  Note  1.  2  See  Appendix,  Note  2. 


SOME  ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS  53 

are  indiscriminately  deprived  of  their  natural  birthright. 
Such  an  extraordinary  measure  must  have  been  com- 
pletely overlooked  by  the  British  public,  who  could  cer- 
tainly have  no  conception  of  the  havoc  which  it  was  de- 
stined to  produce.  The  wording  of  the  Act  is  most 
obscure,  we  trust  inadvertently  so,  but  the  above-men- 
tioned interpretation  is  the  one  adopted  by  the  British 
authorities.  It  was  bad  enough  before,  when  children  of 
the  third  generation  born  abroad  of  British  parents  were 
made  outcasts  by  the  action  of  the  British  Government. 
This  further  curtailment  of  British  nationality  is  an  in- 
tolerable outrage  on  British  patriotism  and  common 
sense.  It  counteracts  and  defeats  the  very  purpose  for 
which  the  Board  of  Trade  is  appealing  to  the  British 
Trading  Community,  for  who  are  amongst  the  chief  sup- 
porters of  England's  trade  and  prestige  if  not  loyal 
Britons  residing  abroad  ?  It  divides  the  allegiance  of 
British  families,  it  turns  the  children  of  faithful  British 
subjects  into  aliens  before  they  are  old  enough  to  choose 
for  themselves,  and  as  regards  Russia  in  particular,  it 
makes  outlaws  of  infant  Britons,  whom  the  Russian 
Government  very  properly  refuses  to  accept  as  Russian 
subjects.  In  very  many  cases  in  which  the  parents  can 
afford  it,  their  outcast  children  are  sent  to  be  educated 
on  British  soil,  nevertheless  they  can  apparently  only 
regain  their  lost  British  citizenship  by  becoming  natural- 
ised like  real  aliens  at  the  discretion  of  a  Secretary  of 
State.  This  is  simply  adding  insult  to  injury.  All  English- 
men who  suffer,  or  see  others  suffer  from  this  objection- 
able and  iniquitous  piece  of  legislation,  are  very  justly 
indignant  and  demand  its  early  repeal.  Only  Germany 
can  profit  by  this  restriction  of  British  allegiance,  which 
will  clear  the  way  more  than  ever  for  the  advance  of 
German  nationality  when  the  war  is  over."  If  indeed  all 
the  facts  are  so,  there  would  seem  to  be  a  call  for  dis- 
crimination in  legislation  which  while  possibly  of  sound 
application  to  certain  conditions  and  in  certain  districts 


54         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

of  the  Empire,  produces  such  apparent  hardship  under 
other  circumstances. 

One  final  remark  may  be  added,  suggested  by  what 
might  have  been  seen  at  Torneo  on  the  Finnish  frontier 
in  June,  1915,  while  yet  the  Russo-Finnish  railway  staff 
was  struggling  with  the  masses  of  material  passing  by  that 
route  into  Russia.  Everything  had  to  be  improvised  at 
the  beginning.  And  now  to-day  the  conditions  are  very 
different,  and  large  wooden  sheds  have  been  built  to  house 
the  goods  as  they  rest  there.  But  at  the  time  in  question 
there  were  acres  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railway  station 
covered  at  one  point  with  bales  of  cotton  from  Memphis, 
U.S.A.,  at  another  with  boxes  full  of  typewriters  ;  here 
sacks  of  sulphur,  there  cases  of  electric  lamps,  and  close 
by  stacks  of  boxes  of  manganese  or  shellac.  Yet  even 
more  impressive  was  the  lack  of  vision  that  stencilled  in 

English  the  phrase   "  Return  when  empty  to "  all 

over  cases  about  which  the  one  thing  certain  was  that 
they  would  never  reach  their  primary  destination  full, 
because  not  clearly  addressed  or  insecurely  put  together. 
Imagine  the  heavy-featured  Finn  as  he  gazes  wonderingly 
at  the  enormous  cards  tacked  on  to  boxes  with  the  strange 
signs  "  Glass,"  "  This  side  up,"  "  Fragile,"  "  With  great 
care,"  and  his  efforts  to  find  anything  suggestive  of  an 
address  in  a  language  familiar  to  him.  Is  it  worth  while 
stencilling  all  over  a  wooden  case  the  intimation  that  it 
is  "fastened  with  so-and-so's  patent  clasps,"  if  it  adds  to 
the  difficulty  of  the  stevedore  in  trying  to  find  why  the 
case  is  there  at  all  ?  I  do  not  know.  But  it  is  possible 
to  imagine  that  if  these  12  by  6  inch  cards,  inscribed  with 
these  English  legends  in  large  lettering,  had  the  size  of 
the  type  reduced  by  a  half,  and  the  free  space  utilised 
for  the  Russian  equivalent  of  these  directions,  the  cases 
would  probably  be  handled  with  greater  understanding, 
and  therefore  with  greater  care  and  consequent  satisfac- 
tion to  the  sender. 


THEME   III 

THE   PROHIBITION   OF   VODKA 


I 

RUSSIA'S  INITIAL  VICTORY 

ANYONE  visiting  Russia  after  a  year  of  the  war, 
XA_  and  able  to  compare  the  conditions  as  he  sees  them 
there  to-day  with  those  that  obtained  during  previous 
decades,  must  quickly  have  become  aware  of  three  very 
striking  changes.  In  the  first  place,  he  would  notice  that 
an  intensely  passionate  love  of  country — a  deep  and 
tender  feeling  for  Russia — has  developed,  which  tends 
to  take  precedence  of  all  other  loyalties,  and  become  the 
ultimate  test  of  all  activities.  In  the  second  place,  he 
would  realise  how  the  will  of  the  people  was  rapidly 
becoming  a  determining  factor  in  Russian  politics,  and 
how  the  Duma,  as  expressing  this,  had  secured  for  itself 
a  growing  and  lasting  place  in  their  affections.  And 
finally,  he  could  not  fail  to  observe  the  remarkable  results 
following  the  prohibition  of  vodka.  Of  the  latter,  some 
were  easily  calculable  in  advance  ;  others  were  unex- 
pected ;  yet  others  have  not  had  time  to  develop, 
although  there  are  hints  of  them.  The  views,  moreover, 
of  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  measure  are  very  in- 
structive, while  even  the  untoward  results  to  date  are 
interesting  when  subjected  to  examination. 

Although  only  one  full  year  has  passed  since  the  in- 
troduction of  prohibition  in  Russia,  enough  has  been 
achieved  to  show  that  the  place  of  Nicholas  II  is  secure 
in  history.  They  speak  of  Alexander  II  as  the  Liberator 
Tsar  because  he  brought  about  the  emancipation  of  the 
serfs.  But  in  a  far  deeper  and  larger  sense  should  the 
title  belong  to  Nicholas  II,  for  while  the  former  liberated 

57 


58         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

a  class,  the  latter  has  freed  a  nation.  Or  as  a  village 
correspondent  puts  the  matter  in  reply  to  an  official  en- 
quiry :  "  Judging  by  the  results  of  four  months,  it  may 
be  said  with  confidence  that  if  temperance  becomes  in- 
separable from  our  Russian  life,  this  prohibition  manifesto 
will  in  its  issue  prove  to  be  a  very  great  reform,  which  can 
be  compared  only  with  those  of  Peter  the  Great." 

At  the  same  time  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  there 
had  been  a  movement  in  this  direction  throughout  various 
districts  in  Russia  previous  to  the  order  of  July  18th, 
1914  (O.S.).  Before  the  Government  once  again  took 
over  the  spirit  trade  in  1894,  all  the  village  communes  had 
the  right  to  interdict  the  existence  of  the  public-house. 
After  the  monopoly  was  re-established,  this  privilege  was 
contested  by  the  Government.  "  Nobody  has  the  right," 
said  the  Minister  of  Finance  (Kokovtzeff)  in  effect  in  the 
second  Duma,  "  to  oppose  this."  Many  peasant  com- 
munities protested.  The  Government  gave  way,  and  in 
the  end  recognised  the  right  of  the  village  communities 
to  shut  up  a  public-house  or  refuse  to  have  one  set  down 
amongst  them.1  These  things  are  cited  to  show  that  the 
movement  had  commenced  amongst  the  people  them- 
selves. The  Emperor,  however,  had  the  vision  that  saw 
his  kingdom  without  vodka,  and  the  sympathetic  con- 
fidence in  his  people  that  trusted  them  to  support  him. 

"  There  has  indeed  been  a  revolution  in  Russia,  you  can 
see  it  in  the  people's  faces."  The  verdict  was  that  of  the 
man  whom  the  Russian  nation  wished  to  have  as  its 
Minister  of  Munitions.  Nor  is  it  an  isolated  judgment. 
"  Every  aspect  of  our  village  life  has  been  changed,"  said 
the  leader  of  one  of  the  parties  in  the  Duma  to  me. 
"  Latterly  the  old  men  did  not  come  to  the  village  as- 

1  The  exact  facts  show  that  the  existing  law  only  allowed  the  Mirs 
to  present  a  petition  for  the  closing  of  the  vodka  shops.  The  petition 
was  granted  or  not,  just  as  the  authorities  preferred.  On  March  11th, 
1914,  that  is  five  months  before  the  war,  by  the  ministerial  circular  No. 
2293,  the  order  was  issued  to  give  effect  always  and  at  once  to  all 
petitions  of  this  character. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  59 

semblies  because  they  were  continually  submitted  to 
insult  by  the  half-drunken  younger  men.  Now  these 
listen  to  the  older  men,  so  that  the  latter  say,  '  We  have 
again  become  fathers,  for  the  young  men  respect  us.' 
The  women  are  enthusiastic  ;  no  longer  are  they  insulted 
or  beaten.  They  receive  their  husbands'  wages  now.  In 
the  villages  close  to  the  towns  the  women  used  to  meet 
their  husbands  at  the  entrance  to  the  village  on  Saturday 
in  order  to  get  the  remainder  of  their  wages  before  they 
had  spent  them  all  in  drink.  Now  they  remain  quietly 
at  home.  It  is  the  children  who  go  to  meet  their  fathers, 
sure  that  they  have  brought  some  little  gift  for  them. 
The  whole  life  of  the  village  communities  has  been  trans- 
formed. The  chief  of  police  in  a  district  in  the  Govern- 
ment of  Moscow  said  to  a  friend  of  mine  the  other  day, 
'  The  conditions  of  my  service  will  have  to  be  altered  ;  I 
have  had  nothing  to  do  for  two  months.'  The  people  are 
gladly  co-operating  with  their  Emperor,  for  the  move- 
ment had  already  in  a  measure  begun  amongst  them. 
But  human  nature  is  feeble,  and  there  were  many  who 
regretted  the  restored  powers  of  local  option.  The  em- 
ployes of  the  monopoly,  who  received  an  increase  in 
wage  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  their  sales,  were 
very  interested  to  influence  members  of  the  village  com- 
mune to  carry  on  propaganda  against  prohibition. 
Tchelyshev1  asked  the  Government  to  forbid  its  employes 
to  conduct  this  kind  of  agitation.  Accordingly,  while 
everybody  thought  that  we  were  in  for  a  long  preparatory 
campaign,  perhaps  of  a  century,  there  was  fortunately 
accomplished  a  miracle.  Like  all  miracles,  it  had  in  a 
measure  to  be  prepared  for  ;  but  Russia  drinks  no  more." 
I  have  discussed  the  question  with  very  many  open- 
minded  men  whose  positions  entitled  them  to  speak  with 
authority.  I  did  not  meet  one  who  spoke  disapprovingly 
of  vodka  prohibition,  and  most  of  them  had  reached 

1  Member  of  the  third  Duma  and  extreme  temperance  advocate : 
died  1915. 


60         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

their  conclusions  simply  on  empirical  grounds — because 
of  the  results. 

What  is  the  nature  of  these  results  ?  Briefly,  they 
affect  every  aspect  of  human  life,  so  that  before  it  is 
possible  to  appreciate  the  far-reaching  character  of  these 
changes,  it  is  necessary  to  listen  to  the  insurance  agent 
as  well  as  to  the  physician,  to  the  trader  at  the  same  time 
as  to  the  chief  of  police.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  that 
a  knowledge  of  Russian  conditions  is  required  to  trace 
the  direct  line  of  cause  and  effect  between  the  vodka 
prohibition  and  the  result,  but  they  are  all  clear  to  the 
Russian  mind. 

"  In  consequence  of  this  prohibition,"  said  the  mayor  of 
one  of  the  capital  cities,  "  we  have  quite  a  different  sort 
of  people."  And  it  was  not  difficult  for  him  to  substan- 
tiate the  statement.  On  the  day  on  which  he  made  it 
(July  7th,  1915),  his  principal  prison  with  500  cells, 
"  always  filled  to  overflowing,"  had  37  occupants.  His 
regular  city  hospitals  have  14,000  beds.  Not  only  were 
these  always  all  occupied  before  prohibition,  but  they 
had  to  put  in  extra  beds  often  to  the  number  of  2000. 
Since  prohibition  they  have  usually  had  on  an  average 
1000  beds  free.  With  the  banishment  of  drink  there  had 
also  been  an  improvement  in  the  moral  tone  of  the 
community.  The  suicide  rate  had  dropped ;  ordinarily  it 
averaged  two  or  three  cases  a  day  in  summer,  and  in 
winter  a  little  less.  For  some  weeks  past  there  had  not 
been  a  case.  Hooliganism  had  practically  disappeared. 
The  price  of  labour  had  gone  up  in  a  very  remarkable 
manner.  This  was  one  of  the  more  unexpected  results — 
which,  however,  are  not  claimed  as  always  wholly  due 
to  prohibition.  Before  the  war  the  pay  of  an  unskilled 
labourer  in  Petrograd  was  80  kopeks  a  day,  now  it  is 
1  ruble  65  kopeks.  The  skilled  artisan  got  8|  rubles  as 
against  about  3  formerly.  The  mayor  of  a  Government 
(Provincial)  capital  stated  that  before  the  war  they  could 
get  mujiks  to  do  all  sorts  of  jobs  for  30  kopeks  a  day, 


THE  PROHIBITION   OF  VODKA  61 

now  they  had  to  pay  them  a  ruble  and  a  half.  Several 
causes  have,  of  course,  combined  to  produce  this  result, 
but  the  principal  cause  is  the  simple  fact  that  the 
labouring  classes  are  all  richer  as  the  result  of  the  vodka 
prohibition.  The  peasants  do  not  require  to  work  so 
hard  as  usual,  because  they  have  saved  money,  and 
since  their  constitutional  laziness  tends  to  assert  itself, 
greater  inducements  are  required  to  make  them  work. 
The  Russian  peasant  is  not  like  the  French  peasant  in 
his  love  of  work  :  the  Russian  does  not  like  to  work  long, 
as  a  rule.  Previously,  what  little  they  got  was  spent  at 
once  on  vodka,  and  they  had  to  work  on  any  terms  for 
more. 

The  evidence  of  large  employers  of  labour  is  uniformly 
favourable  to  the  good  results  of  prohibition.  One 
Petrograd  factory  owner  employing  4000  hands  said  that 
the  efficiency  of  his  men  had  noticeably  increased  from 
10  to  15  per  cent.  In  his  mills  they  were  not  working 
longer  hours,  as  in  some  cases  they  are  empowered  to  do, 
but  they  did  better  work  in  the  same  time.  He  also 
observed  an  improvement  in  their  dress,  and  a  marked 
increase  in  self-respect.  Another  large  employer  also 
testified  to  the  great  improvement  in  the  character  of  his 
men's  work.  They  now  came  regularly  every  day,  and 
did  steady  work.  Formerly  it  might  happen  that  a 
design  in  connection  with  some  new  machinery  was 
shown  to  a  man  by  the  foreman  late  in  the  afternoon. 
The  man  went  off  and  got  drunk  on  the  way  home  : 
perhaps  he  stayed  away  for  two  days.  When  he  returned 
he  had  forgotten  part  of  the  explanation  about  the 
machinery  and  was  afraid  to  ask.  Consequently  his 
work  was  imperfectly  done.  All  that  sort  of  thing  had 
come  to  an  end.  He  had  not  noticed  any  marked  differ- 
ence in  the  number  of  accidents  and  disablements  but 
for  this  reason.  Ordinarily  his  was  a  ten-hours'  day.  In 
the  production  of  munitions,  however,  his  men  were 
allowed  to  work  as  much  longer  as  they  liked,  and  acci- 


62         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

dents  tended  to  occur  which  were  due  to  fatigue.  He 
also  stated  that  the  relations  between  master  and  men 
had  visibly  improved  since  prohibition  had  been  intro- 
duced. 

If  now  we  pass  to  the  country,  we  find  the  same  general 
results.  "In  a  little  town  that  I  know,  one  hundred 
versts  from  Moscow,"  said  a  member  of  the  Duma,  "  you 
cannot  now  find  a  man  who  does  not  work.  The  people 
used  to  close  their  outside  shutters  at  night  for  fear  they 
would  be  robbed  :  they  do  not  do  so  any  more.  It  is  also 
very  noticeable  how  they  take  an  active  intelligent  in- 
terest in  questions  relating  to  the  war,  domestic  politics, 
and  ideals  for  the  future."  Look  into  the  life  of  the  people 
from  any  angle  you  please,  and  some  expression  of  en- 
hanced well-being  meets  you.  The  changes  may  not  all 
be  directly  and  solely  due  to  prohibition,  but  in  the  new 
atmosphere  life  has  taken  on  a  new  form.  As  the  pub- 
lished statement  of  an  official  correspondent  puts  it  : 
"  I  simply  cannot  describe  the  good  results,  because 
with  the  shutting  of  the  Government  shops  the  people 
are  as  if  they  were  born  anew,  or  as  if  they  were  freed 
from  servitude,  as  it  was  in  1861." 

Take  a  district  town  like  Kinyeshma,  to  which  refer- 
ence has  already  been  made.  They  show  you  that  the 
average  monthly  deposits  in  the  twenty-three  district 
Zemsky  banks  were  170,000  rubles  previous  to  the  war  :  in 
July  of  1915  they  were  300,000  rubles.  In  the  Imperial 
Savings  Bank  in  the  same  district  there  were,  on  August 
1st,  1914,  7,165,000  rubles  :  on  July  1st  of  1915,  7,941,000 
rubles.  You  enter  the  large  store  for  the  sale  of  agricul- 
tural and  other  implements,  and  find  that  while  in  1913 
they  did  230,000  rubles'  worth  of  business,  in  1914  the 
figure  was  390,000  rubles.  The  remarkable  contrast  is 
increasingly  apparent  of  villages  never  so  rich,  and  a 
Government,  in  recent  times  at  any  rate,  never  so  poor. 
In  the  towns  the  economic  advantages  from  prohibition 
are  largely  nullified  by  the  increased  prices,  due  in  part 


THE   PROHIBITION   OF   VODKA  63 

to  lack  of  transport.  Finally,  you  turn  down  another 
street  into  one  of  the  police  detention  houses.  It  has  but 
a  single  occupant.  The  records  for  1914  show  that  220 
men  and  35  women  had  been  under  detention  there. 
For  seven  months  of  the  following  year  the  figures  were 
63  men  and  5  women,  and  five  months  of  1914  were 
temperance  months. 

If  now  we  widen  the  area  of  observation  and  push  our 
investigations  in  different  directions,  we  are  confronted 
with  the  same  kind  of  result.  For  forty-three  Governmental 
districts  the  Zemstvo  insurance  statistics  show  that  while 
there  were  7436  outbreaks  of  fire  with  damage  estimated 
at  1 ,708, 158  rubles  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  war, 
the  figures  for  the  corresponding  period  of  1913  gave 
13,216  outbreaks  with  damage  computed  at  3,850,906 
rubles.  In  the  Yekaterinoslav  Government  in  1913  there 
were  310  fires  with  damage  estimated  at  28,893  rubles, 
while  for  1914  the  figures  were  147  fires  with  13,287 
rubles'  worth  of  damage.  In  the  Government  of  Tamboff 
the  diminution  in  fires  is  even  more  striking.  The  average 
number  of  cases  in  September  for  ten  years  previous  to 
1914  was  148  :  in  September,  1914,  it  was  65.  For  the 
month  of  August,  the  average  for  five  years  previous  to  1914 
was  960  :  in  August,  1914,  the  actual  number  was  630. 
Statistics  for  all  the  Governments  of  Russia  show  that 
there  was  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  war  a 
diminution  of  47  per  cent  in  the  number  of  fires,  and  of 
56  per  cent  in  the  amount  of  damage  done.  So  also 
was  it  found  with  regard  to  railway  accidents.  In  con- 
nection with  the  railways  in  the  district  of  Moscow, 
statistics  showed  805  accidents  for  a  year,  in  which  the 
percentage  due  to  alcohol  was  4*34  :  after  prohibition, 
the  proportion  due  to  drunkenness  had  fallen  to  0*95. 

With  regard  to  crime,  the  Reunion  (Industrial  Assur- 
ance Company)  makes  the  general  statement  that  it  has 
diminished  62  per  cent.  Certainly  in  all  Russia  crime 
had  diminished  during  the  first  three  months  of  the  war 


64         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

by  25  per  cent.  In  some  areas  the  percentage  was  much 
higher.  Thus,  during  the  first  four  months  of  the  war  in 
certain  districts  of  the  Moscow  Government,  "  correc- 
tion "  cases  showed  a  diminution  of  29  per  cent,  and  in 
"  disorders  "  or  more  serious  crimes,  the  reduction  varied 
from  51  to  76  per  cent.  In  the  Government  of  Tamboff 
during  the  first  nine  months  of  the  war  the  number  of 
cases  had  declined  from  4000  to  2400,  i.e.  36  per  cent. 
Within  a  sub-district  near  Moscow,  the  cases  for  disci- 
pline in  the  factories  had  diminished  between  60  per  cent 
and  80  per  cent :  absenteeism  had  diminished  by  60  per 
cent.  In  a  printed  document  by  a  member  of  the  Ex- 
treme Right  Party  in  the  Duma,  summarising  results  in 
his  district,  he  notes  amongst  other  points  :  "  Great 
diminution  of  fires  and  of  criminal  cases,  peace  and  har- 
mony in  families,  no  more  insults  from  drunken  people, 
public  assemblies  calm  and  reasonable,  hardly  any 
bribery  registered  now,  labour  more  productive,  the 
great  sums  which  were  spent  before  on  vodka — from  ten 
to  fifteen  thousand  rubles  in  each  large  village — now  go 
to  increase  the  well-being  of  the  population,  pauperism 
and  vagabondage  have  absolutely  disappeared."  As  a 
result  throughout  the  different  Governments,  the  peasant 
banks  are  full  of  money,  loans  have  been  paid  off,  and 
agricultural  implements  formerly  purchased  on  the  in- 
stalment plan  have  been  bought  outright,  and  arrears 
paid  off.  Having  supplied  themselves  with  gramophones 
and  watches  and  new  clothes,  the  peasants  now  employ 
their  money  more  productively,  in  buying  land  and  even 
securities,  or  starting  little  businesses.  One  hundred 
million  rubles  per  month  used  to  be  spent  on  vodka  ; 
to-day  it  remains  in  the  economy  of  peasant  life.  On 
all  hands  the  people  demand  that  it  shall  be  banished 
for  ever.  The  last  speech  I  heard  in  the  Duma  was 
that  of  a  peasant  delegate  insisting  that  the  permanent 
prohibition  of  vodka  be  embodied  in  legal  enactment 
now. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  65 

This  well-being  of  the  peasants  has  in  turn  affected 
the  food  supply.  Articles  like  cultivated  berries  and 
eggs  and  even  meat,  which  he  did  not  eat  formerly 
except  on  holidays,  have  become  dearer  because  he  and 
his  children  either  feed  on  them  themselves,  or  because 
he  can  now  afford  to  wait  and  watch  the  ever-rising 
prices.  Finally,  the  death  rate  from  drunkenness  has 
risen  since  prohibition  was  introduced.  This  paradox 
finds  its  solution  in  the  fact  that  dipsomaniacs  have 
turned  to  methylated  spirits  and  other  fatal  substitutes.1 

It  is  not  pretended  that  every  Russian  is  pleased  with 
prohibition,  but  it  can  be  said,  so  far  as  the  evidence 
goes,  that  the  great  majority  of  the  people  are  alive  to 
the  results,  and  that  a  majority,  at  any  rate,  consider  that 
permanent  prohibition  of  vodka  is  not  merely  possible 
but  desirable.  The  complicated  agony  of  the  past  months 
in  Russia  has  called  for  powers  of  endurance  whose  moral 
source  has  been  in  large  measure  the  consciousness,  ad- 
mittedly present  in  varying  degrees  in  different  indi- 
viduals, that  a  serious  issue  was  faced  and  met  in  the 
only  possible  manner.  "  If  it  had  not  been  for  this 
decisive  measure,  my  firm  conviction  is  that  our  war 
would  already  have  turned  into  a  revolution,  without 
speaking  of  our  armies,  that  would  never  have  been  able 
to  carry  out  their  gigantic  retreat,  keeping  up  through 
it  all  their  wonderful  spirit  of  reasoned  self-sacrifice  that 
has  now  become  historical." 

Many  Russians  will  agree  with  these  words  of  one  of 
their  distinguished  diplomatists.  In  Russia  the  army 
and  the  nation  are  one,  in  a  degree  with  which  there  is  no 
comparison  in  Britain,  fused  together  in  the  fire  of  a 
common  sacrifice.  One  of  our  many  national  self- 
deceptions  of  the  day  is  that  we  have  a  choice  of  action 
in  the  matter  ;  in  reality  we  have  none.  For  the  history 
of  life  throughout  the  ages  of  its  slow  ascent  clearly  shows 
that  there  have  been  recurrent  periods  of  environmental 

1  See  succeeding  Sections  II  and  IV. 


66         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

stress  during  which  the  forms  that  survived  were  those 
which  proved  to  have  the  requisite  alert  awareness  and 
plasticity,  enabling  them  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
changing  environment.  To-day  we  find  ourselves  in  such 
a  time  of  stress,  and  it  is  only  as  we  have  the  under- 
standing and  the  courage  to  effect  the  changes  which 
will  produce  more  efficient  adaptation  that  we  can  hope 
to  maintain  our  position  in  the  forefront  of  the  nations. 
Russia  has  had  the  vision,  has  acted  and  confidently 
endures.    And  we  ? 


II 

IN  THE  COUNTRY 

TO  the  general  impressions  of  the  previous  section 
it  is  now  possible  to  add  opinion  based  upon  a 
more  uniform  and  ordered  method  of  investigation.  Com- 
petent Russian  authorities,  both  individuals  and  societies, 
have  recently  begun  to  make  serious  studies  of  the  great 
experiment.  It  was  not  possible  to  undertake  this  earlier, 
since  in  the  first  instance  it  was  necessary  that  sufficient 
time  should  elapse  in  order  to  allow  definite  results  to 
develop,  and  in  the  second  place  responsible  bodies  had 
to  be  found  which  were  free  to  undertake  such  an  in- 
vestigation in  a  judicial  way,  and  on  a  fairly  broad  scale. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  activities  of  the 
Zemstvo  in  the  Government  (Province)  of  Kostroma  as  ex- 
emplifying the  kind  of  work  that  is  done  by  the  wealthier 
and  better  organised  of  these  institutions  in  its  home  terri- 
tory.1 Amidst  a  multitude  of  other  duties,  the  Statistical 
Bureau  of  this  particular  body  issued  a  questionnaire  to  600 
correspondents  in  different  districts  of  the  Government 
dealing  with  various  aspects  of  the  effect  of  the  war  upon 
country  life.  A  portion  of  this  questionnaire  dealt  with  the 
results  of  prohibition.  The  answers  have  been  studied  and 
summarised  with  extracts  in  a  booklet  entitled  "  War  and 
Country  Life  in  the  Government  of  Kostroma,"  and  the 
net  effect  is  a  very  interesting  human  document. 

The  part  devoted  to  the  effects  of  vodka  prohibition 
opens  with  the  statement  that  this  measure  was  really 
the  last  link  in  a  chain  of  measures,  Government  and 

1  See  p.  33  ff. 

67 


68         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

other,  that  had  been  instituted  in  connection  with  the 
struggle  against  drink.  The  results  of  drinking  were  so  bad 
that  it  had  come  to  be  generally  realised  that  sooner  or 
later  the  whole  question  must  be  faced.  The  war  simply 
fixed  the  time.  Society  and  Government  alike  saw  that 
when  the  war  called  for  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  people, 
they  must  be  helped  in  every  way  to  retain  their  physical 
powers  and  energy,  and  that  the  Government  also  must 
fall  into  line  in  surrendering  its  drink  profits.  The 
figures  from  the  600  country  districts  show  that  the 
people  understood  this  themselves.  The  results  cover 
official  statistics  from  November,  1914,  to  January,  1915, 
based  upon  the  four  to  five  months'  observations  of  the 
different  correspondents. 

The  first  question  submitted  to  the  correspondents 
was  as  follows  :  What  are  the  results  of  the  stoppage  of 
the  sale  of  vodka  on  the  economic  life  of  the  country  ? 
Replies  were  received  from  501  out  of  the  600  corre- 
spondents. Of  these,  267,  or  53-3  per  cent,  replied  generally 
that  the  results  were  "  very  good  "  ;  203,  or  40-5  per 
cent,  submitted  that  the  results  were  "  good  "  ;  29  gave 
in  answer  that  there  were  no  results,  and  2  replied  that 
it  was  difficult  to  say, — a  percentage  of  6-2 ;  99  sent  in 
no  reply.  The  redactor  notes  in  this  connection  that 
while  29  affirm  that  there  have  been  no  results,  those, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  give  positive  replies  point  out 
that  it  is  impossible,  even  within  four  or  five  months,  to 
estimate  what  will  be  the  total  good  results  from  the 
change. 

Again,  the  replies  are  not  always  strictly  to  the  point, 
some  of  the  correspondents  taking  up  the  general  question 
of  the  results  of  a  bad  harvest  in  connection  with  pro- 
hibition, others  giving  particular  results  in  individual 
cases.  From  the  replies  wholly  in  favour  of  the  change, 
a  few  excerpts  may  be  given  :  "  Owing  to  prohibition 
you  cannot  see  the  bad  effects  of  the  war."  "  Owing  to 
this  temperance  movement  we  do  not  feel  the  bad  effects 


THE   PROHIBITION   OF  VODKA  69 

of  a  bad  harvest."  "The  stoppage  of  the  sale  of  wine1 
has  been  very  good  for  our  economic  life  :  it  is  as  if  our 
people  have  awakened  from  a  dream."  "  The  war  itself 
cannot  ruin  the  agricultural  life  so  much  as  did  the  wine." 
"  As  a  little  river  retains  the  water  by  the  help  of  a  dam, 
so  by  the  stoppage  of  the  sale  of  wine,  money  is  kept  in 
the  hands  of  its  owners."  Some  of  the  correspondents 
who  do  not  observe  any  influence  of  temperance  on 
economic  life  indicate  that  it  is  not  reasonable  to  expect 
to  see  any  influence  in  so  short  a  time  :  a  year  hence 
better  results  may  be  noticeable.  In  some  districts  the 
reporters  state  that  they  do  not  see  any  improvement, 
but  add  that  the  reason  for  this  is  simply  that  practically 
only  women  are  left  to  work  there.  Even  in  the  case 
of  the  29,  the  correspondents  usually  speak  of  the  good 
results  of  prohibition  in  individual  cases. 

Two  or  three  questions  were  directed  to  obtaining  more 
concrete  answers.  To  the  question,  "  Has  any  improve- 
ment been  noted  in  the  case  of  those  peasants  whose 
homes  were  previously  ruined  by  their  drunkenness  ?  " 
532  replies  were  given  of  which  68  were  in  the  negative, 
while  4  replied,  "  It  is  difficult  to  say."  That  there  was 
such  improvement  is  maintained  by  460  correspondents, 
or  85  per  cent, — a  smaller  proportion  than  in  the  case  of 
the  first  question.  The  replies,  however,  are  full  of  con- 
crete cases.  Many  of  the  correspondents  note  a  very 
great  increase  in  the  number  of  those  who  come  back 
from  the  towns  to  their  villages  at  the  end  of  the  winter's 
work.  Formerly  such  men  were  practically  lost  to  their 
families  as  they  remained  on  in  the  towns  to  drink. 

The  following  extracts  from  correspondents  in  the 
factory  districts  bear  upon  this  point.  "  Many  came 
back  from  Petrograd  who  had  been  away  for  several 
years  without  word  of  any  kind  :  they  came  back  quite 
respectable,  bringing  with  them  money."     "  We  had  a 

1  Unless  the  context  indicates  otherwise,  by  "wine"  is  meant  vodka 
throughout  this  section.     The  word  in  the  original  is  "  vino." 


70         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

glazier  who  came  home  ;  he  used  to  have  absolutely 
nothing  because  of  the  drink,  and  now  you  cannot 
recognise  the  man  ;  he  is  quite  a  respectable  householder." 
"  All  the  drunkards  are  working  now.  They  build  new 
houses  and  buy  cattle."  "  All  those  who  drank  freely 
before  are  now  very  busy  with  their  work,  and  in  every 
village  there  are  some  peasants  who  are  quite  different 
without  wine."  A  peasant  writes  :  "  Wonderfully  good  ! 
Joy  everywhere  !  Quite  habitual  drunkards  are  well- 
dressed  now,  and  have  repaired  their  houses."  "  The  hea- 
viest drunkard,"  they  write  from  the  Kinyeshma  district, 
"  who  only  worked  one  day  in  the  week  is  now  the  best 
workman,  and  is  well-dressed."  Another  writes :  "  You 
cannot  see  drunkards  anywhere,  like  as  it  was  before. 
Now  they  all  work  in  the  district  factories."  "  We  seldom 
hear  of  thieves  nowadays  :  everywhere  our  professional 
thieves  have  disappeared."  "  The  influence  of  temper- 
ance on  the  life  of  the  population  is  so  great  that  pre- 
viously you  could  not  have  imagined  how  great  the 
change  would  be."  "  Many  about  whom  they  thought 
before  that  they  were  quite  lost  because  of  their  drunken- 
ness are  now  getting  on,  and  if  it  were  a  better  year,  the 
prohibition  would  have  given  wonderful  results."  "  You 
can't  conceal  the  good  results  of  prohibition  :  the  people 
themselves  see  them,  but  they  themselves  could  not 
have  stopped  drinking."  Even  the  negative  answers 
usually  introduce  a  saving  explanation  :  e.g.  "It  is 
difficult  to  see  the  results,  because  a  completely  ruined 
holding  cannot  be  set  right  in  four  months." 

The  fourth  question  was  in  these  terms  :  Is  there 
increase  in  the  productiveness  of  labour  as  the  result  of 
prohibition  ?  In  most  cases  the  correspondents  report 
that  the  peasants  begin  to  work  now  and  to  work  more 
intensively.  The  efficiency  of  the  labour  is  higher  ;  every- 
where you  can  see  they  work  better.  Pay  is  higher 
because  of  temperance.  The  factory  districts,  however, 
provide  the  best  area  for  clear  elucidation  of  this  point. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  71 

Some  say  that  the  influence  is  not  very  great.  Yet  others 
testify  :  "  The  rejoicing  peasants  cannot  believe  in  their 
new  life.  Everyone  knows  what  was  the  principal  thing 
in  all  their  life, — everyday  life  and  holidays.  You  could 
see  wine  everywhere  before.  The  power  of  vodka  was  so 
great  that  you  could  not  do  anything  with  it."  Such 
opinions  of  the  people  themselves  have  more  value  than 
those  of  the  mere  outsider.  "  Now  vodka  has  quite 
disappeared  from  the  life  and  consciousness  of  the 
people."  "  They  do  not  drink  now  either  from  joy  or 
from  sorrow." 

Another  question  cleverly  brings  out  the  feeling  of 
the  correspondents  upon  prohibition  in  relation  to  the 
social  side  of  life, — How  do  they  get  on  without  vodka 
at  their  holiday  celebrations,  weddings,  and  so  forth  ? 
In  502  answers  out  of  539  these  vodkaless  gatherings  are 
described  as  "  good,"  "  quite  good,"  "  quiet,"  "  reason- 
able," and  "  much  better  without  vodka."  All  these 
answers  show  approval.  Only  in  37  answers  does  it  come 
out  that  the  peasants  miss  their  vodka.  "  What  is  to 
be  done  ?  We  must  do  without."  "  At  festivals  and 
weddings  we  feel  awkward  without  it."  "  They  say 
jokingly,  '  We  are  dull  and  miss  it,'  but  after  all  they  are 
quite  pleased  with  temperance."  "  For  holidays  it  is  all 
right,  but  not  for  weddings."  These  37  answers  show, 
then,  that  they  sometimes  miss  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
others  report  that  vodka  is  never  mentioned  now,  indeed 
is  quite  forgotten.  "  They  are  getting  quite  accustomed 
to  be  without  it."  "  As  if  they  had  never  known  it." 
The  war  itself  has,  of  course,  had  its  influence  on  their 
festivals. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  correspondents  had 
noticed  the  use  of  any  substitutes  for  vodka  brought 
out  much  interesting  information.  The  elaboration  of 
the  topic  of  the  use  of  substitutes  seemed  peculiarly  con- 
genial to  those  correspondents  who  were  opposed  to  pro- 
hibition.   In  answer,  456  stated  that  they  had  not  seen 


72         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

any  substitutes  in  use,  79  admitted  that  there  were  such 
substitutes,  and  65  made  no  reply. 

It  appears  that  substitutes  are  more  in  use  in  the 
southern  districts  of  the  Government,  where  the  mills 
are.  One  such  substitute  is  home-made  beer,  like  kvass. 
The  correspondents  do  not  consider  this  bad  where  it 
was  used  formerly.  But  it  is  otherwise  where  such  beer 
has  been  introduced  for  the  first  time.  "  They  try  to 
make  it  here  of  a  higher  strength  "  :  so  18  report.  In  6 
instances  the  report  is,  "  They  prepare  very  strong  beer  "  : 
in  others,  "They  use  it  more."  In  5  cases  it  is  reported 
that  the  peasants  are  beginning  to  use  it.  Some  wish 
measures  taken  against  this,  and  in  some  cases  this  has 
been  done  by  the  local  authorities. 

Of  real  substitutes,  "  lak "  and  "  politura "  (i.e. 
coloured,  and  colourless  spirit  varnishes)  are  mentioned 
in  64  reports,  as  also  "  kinderbalsam  "  and  methylated 
spirits  and  sometimes  eau-de-Cologne  and  "  drevesny  " 
spirit  (from  wood).  The  correspondents  say  that  only 
"very  hopeless  drunkards  use  such  spirits," — "lost 
people."  "  Only  one  or  two  in  the  whole  village  use 
these  things."  "  Sometimes  they  use  lak, — mainly 
joiners  who  used  it  before."  "  Some  use  red  wine,  and 
try  to  make  it  stronger  with  pepper."  All  these  corre- 
spondents say  that  in  the  beginning  they  tried  to  find 
substitutes  but  tend  to  give  it  up,  even  calling  themselves 
fools  for  trying  to  use  such  "  awful  stuff."  "  Most  of  all 
they  used  substitutes  during  recruiting,  not  so  much  to  get 
drunk  as  to  boast  that  they  could  find  a  substitute." 
In  Kostroma  Government  it  would  certainly  appear  that 
on  the  whole  substitutes  have  not  been  used  very  much, 
even  in  the  first  months  after  prohibition,  when  the  lack 
of  vodka  must  have  been  most  strongly  felt.  It  is  obvious 
from  the  reports  that  measures  against  such  substitutes 
will  be  quite  successful,  since  the  people  themselves 
understand  the  harm  of  them.  "So  we  have  hope  that 
our  struggle  against  the  people  who  are  opposed  to  pro- 


THE   PROHIBITION   OF   VODKA  73 

hibition  will  be  successful,"  who  by  magnifying  the 
effects  of  varnish  drinking,  etc.,  try  and  say,  Better  to 
give  them  wine  and  beer,  since  the  population  prove  in 
this  way  that  they  wish  to  have  substitutes. 

In  the  questionnaire  no  questions  were  put  about  beer 
and  wine,  but  some  correspondents  go  out  of  their  way 
to  say  that  prohibition  of  these  would  be  very  useful 
also.  "  They  will  spend  more  money  because  these  are 
dearer,  and  they  will  need  to  drink  more."  ..."  The 
results  of  the  prohibition  of  all  kinds  of  wine  give  very  good 
results  here,  and  everyone  wishes  to  have  no  kind  of  drink 
again  in  the  future."  In  some  cases  this  specific  reason 
is  added,  "  In  order  not  to  increase  our  expenses." 
The  mobilisation  period  was  quiet  and  without  excess  as 
the  result  of  prohibition.  "  No  confusion,  no  quarrels," — 
not  even  (later)  with  prisoners  of  war,  to  whom  they  are 
kind.  Few  reports,  however,  deal  with  this  particular 
period.  If  they  had  had  vodka,  some  of  the  correspon- 
dents say,  the  mobilisation  would  not  have  been  so 
good. 

The  replies  to  another  question  let  us  see  the  influence 
of  prohibition  upon  the  public  life  of  the  village  com- 
munity as  evidenced  in  the  Assemblies.  The  reports 
speak  of  these  as  "  reasonable,"  and  "  more  quiet  than 
before."  "  Such  Assemblies  have  more  members  now, 
and  they  discuss  their  questions  seriously."  "  The 
Assembly  is  more  conscientious  because  there  is  no  vodka 
as  a  bribe  "  (distributed  by  interested  parties).  "  Now 
they  understand  their  own  interests  :  previously  they 
would  sell  everything  for  vodka."  "  The  business  of 
the  Assemblies  is  decided  more  quickly,  because  those 
who  formerly  shouted,  being  full  of  vodka  but  empty  of 
ideas,  are  now  quiet."  "  You  cannot  imagine  anything 
better  now  from  the  Assemblies  :  the  decisions  are  quiet 
and  judicial  and  free  from  the  pressure  of  those  who 
shouted,  and  tried  to  get  decisions  by  their  voices  for 
those  who  give  them  vodka."     "  Before  you  could  get 


74         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

anything  from  the  Assembly  for  vodka.  They  were  quite 
ready  to  sell  their  own  property  for  it." 

In  relation  to  the  misspending  of  the  commune  funds 
under  the  influence  of  vodka,  one  correspondent  writes  : 
"  All  the  Assemblies  are  quite  reasonable  now  :  they 
transact  their  business  without  quarrelling.  Formerly, 
the  old  people  did  not  come  to  them  because  the  young 
peasants  did  not  allow  them  to  voice  their  opinion  ; 
they  considered  them  too  old."  "All  these  Assemblies 
used  to  make  their  decisions  under  the  influence  of  vodka. 
I  know  one  village  where  more  than  200  rubles  were  spent 
on  vodka  in  one  year  in  connection  with  the  business  of 
the  Assembly.  Now  if  they  have  money  at  the  credit  of 
the  commune,  they  keep  it  for  some  useful  purpose." 
"  Before,  they  often  drank  away  their  standing  timber 
and  standing  corn.  All  the  commune  business  was 
decided  by  vodka,  e.g.  engagement  of  cowherds,  etc. 
Formerly  all  surplus  commune  money  was  spent  on 
vodka."  "  Drunkards  were  like  bees  near  a  hive  in  the 
old  Assemblies  "  :  now  all  are  sober  and  reasonable,  and 
"  even  the  hopeless  drunkards  are  for  temperance," 
testifies  a  peasant.  So  the  village  atmosphere  is  being 
purified,  and  every  side  of  social,  personal,  and  family 
life  becomes  more  wholesome.  "  The  village  street  to-day 
is  pure,  where  formerly  on  the  holidays  or  on  big  business 
days  of  the  Assembly  the  tide  of  drink  was  covering 
everything,  creeping  into  every  little  house,  while  above 
was  an  atmosphere  heavy  with  the  vapourings  and  songs 
of  foul-mouthed  men." 

More  detailed  information  is  sought  through  another 
question  as  to  the  influence  of  prohibition  on  the  moral 
life  of  the  community.  The  answers  are  usually  very 
decided.  "  You  cannot  hear  any  bad  language  ;  it  has 
ceased."  That  is  the  opinion  of  136  correspondents, 
against  2  who  "  see  no  influence  ;  the  young  people  are 
as  wild  as  before  and  retain  the  same  habits  ;  they  are 
so  accustomed  to  use  bad  language."    The  redactor  sees 


THE  PROHIBITION   OF  VODKA  75 

the  element  of  truth  in  this.  "  They  can  continue  un- 
consciously to  use  bad  language,"  he  admits,  but  hopes 
that  after  consciously  trying  a  temperate  life,  they  will 
continue  to  try  and  keep  this  purity. 

In  recent  years  the  question  of  hooliganism  (under- 
standing by  that  term  "  wildness  and  mischief  without 
reason  ")  had  been  much  discussed  in  the  country.  "  Hooli- 
gans have  quite  disappeared,"  say  37  correspondents, 
and  121  also  say  that  such  unreasonable  mischief  has 
quite  disappeared.  A  priest  writes:  "You  cannot  see 
hooligans.  The  women  are  grateful ;  the  children 
rejoice.  They  all  thank  God  for  such  good  results  of 
temperance.  And  I,  priest  of  my  church,  am  rejoicing 
too,  and  should  like  complete  permanent  prohibition  of 
everything."  "  Police  houses  of  detention  are  empty 
now  :  there  are  no  drunkards."  "  Everyone  is  very  glad 
because  of  prohibition.  The  wild  young  people  are  quite 
calm  and  different,  showing  that  vodka  was  the  reason 
of  their  wildness.  Before,  even  the  little  children  (of 
drunkards)  were  trying  to  drink  :  now  they  have  no  bad 
examples."  From  many  districts  the  same  opinion 
comes.  "  In  one  word,  life  is  quite  different."  There 
are  correspondents,  however,  who  recognise  that  it  is 
necessary  to  go  more  deeply  to  find  the  cause  of  this 
hooliganism.  One  in  particular  notes  that  not  only 
vodka,  but  lack  of  education  and  capacity  to  work  were 
causes.  Drunkards  are  better  now,  he  says,  but  the 
young  people  sometimes  continue  their  hooliganism, 
simply  because  they  have  nothing  to  do.  If  they  are 
sober  constantly,  however,  they  will  learn  to  spend  their 
leisure  to  better  purpose. 

The  same  question  dealt  with  the  effects  of  prohibi- 
tion upon  crime.  In  73  replies  it  is  stated  that  crime 
has  quite  disappeared,  or  decreased.  Fifteen  reports 
intimate  that  theft  has  lessened  ;  three  mention  the  fact 
that  murders  have  decreased.  Law-breaking  has  de- 
creased everywhere.     Not  all  the  correspondents,  how- 


76         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

ever,  consider  that  this  is  due  to  prohibition  alone.  Their 
logic  and  general  knowledge,  however,  are  not  always 
particularly  sound.  Thus  one  of  the  correspondents  who 
believes  that  the  cause  of  crime  is  not  so  much  drunken- 
ness as  ignorance,  writes  :  "  After  the  prohibition,  when 
there  is  less  drunkenness  on  the  holidays,  you  notice  the 
people  becoming  more  religious,  and  there  is  less  rioting 
and  bad  language.  Such  law- breaking  (as  formerly 
existed)  was  due  to  ignorance  and  looseness  of  morals, — 
not  only  to  drunkenness."  He  then  continues  :  "In 
the  words  of  the  Apostle,  '  Wine  is  not  a  bad  thing  in 
itself,  but  drunkenness  is.'  But  at  the  right  time  vodka 
can  help  a  workman  as  medicine,  and  in  some  cases 
vodka  helps  people  to  socialise,  but  of  course  not  taken 
in  a  large  quantity.  For  children,  prohibition  has  a 
good  effect,  but  the  root  of  the  evil  is  in  the  secret  sale 
of  vodka,  and  such  sale  has  now  been  stopped." 

The  writing  on  the  affirmative  side  is  much  more  im- 
pressive. Thus  a  peasant  delivers  his  soul  :  "  Many  of 
the  dark  sides  of  life  have  disappeared  with  vodka, — 
thefts,  murders,  quarrels,  immorality,  pauperism,  and 
usury.  All  vices  have  disappeared.  0  God,  let  our 
Government  understand  the  necessity  of  permanent  pro- 
hibition, because  from  this  hellish  poison  Russia  was  on 
the  verge  of  ruin."  Another  peasant  writes  :  "  With 
prohibition  we  don't  meet  with  fightings,  murders,  and 
bad  language.  Everyone  feels  himself  safe  now,  because 
the  sober  man,  even  if  he  is  still  wild  and  rough,  cannot 
commit  a  crime."  "  No  crimes,  no  breaking  of  the  law, 
and  you  cannot  expect  them  so  far  as  there  is  no  vodka." 
"  The  morality  of  the  people  has  advanced  by  a  hundred 
years.  No  hooliganism,  no  crimes."  One  added  to  his 
list,  "  no  frozen  people,"  lifting  the  veil  from  a  once 
typical  Russian  winter  scene.  A  priest  writes  :  "  The 
moral  standard  of  the  men  is  now  much  higher — our 
women  do  not  drink.  The  men  are  more  polite,  ready  to 
help,  and  more  kind.    Bad  language  has  ceased.    Hooli- 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  77 

ganism  and  law-breaking  are  at  an  end."  Another  says  : 
"  All  are  as  if  they  were  born  anew.  They  are  reasonable, 
gentle,  and  more  capable  for  work  :  and  as  a  result, 
crime  has  disappeared."  "  All  crime,  etc.,  has  lessened 
by  90  per  cent.  The  village  is  quite  different."  Such 
reports  are  very  numerous. 

As  a  result  of  prohibition  the  number  of  fires  has  les- 
sened. Law  processes  have  also  markedly  declined  in 
number.  Seven  correspondents  say  :  "  The  police  have 
nothing  to  do."  One  concise  report  runs  :  "  Before 
prohibition  there  were  30-40  cases  every  month  in  the 
district  court :  now  there  are  none.  I  (who  write)  am 
the  judge."  "  The  district  court  only  meets  half  as  often 
as  it  used  to  do."  A  clerk  of  a  district  court  writes  : 
"  Formerly,  we  had  130  criminal  cases  every  year,  an 
average  of  11  a  month.  Now,  from  July  till  the  present 
date  (4-5  months),  we  have  only  had  7,  and  not  one  of 
the  most  serious  degree." 

Besides  the  above  there  are  118  reports  where  the 
correspondents  answer  quite  shortly  that  prohibition 
has  had  a  very  good  influence  on  the  conduct  and  morality 
of  the  people.  "  Very  great  "  ;  "  Very  good  "  ;  "  Cannot 
expect  better  "  ;  such  are  some  of  their  verdicts.  This 
really  is  a  universal  opinion.  Indeed,  the  good  results  of 
prohibition  are  particularly  well  seen  in  the  peasant 
families.  "  As  all  their  life  is  a  life  without  rights,  when 
there  was  vodka  their  life  was  poor  in  spirit,  and  women 
suffered  most  of  all, — drunkards  could  do  what  they 
liked  at  home.  The  family  home  had  to  accept  what  the 
policing  of  the  street  would  not  permit  there.  With 
temperance  what  the  peasants  call  '  an  unexpected  joy  ' 
has  come."  First  of  all,  it  is  explained,  the  women  can 
breathe  more  freely.  "  Women  and  children  who  were 
formerly  suffering  from  beating,  tortures,  and  injuries, 
— as  the  poet  Nekrasov  writes,  '  peasant  woman's  life 
so  hard  and  difficult,  worse  cannot  be  found ' — can  now 
see  the  light  of  hope  and  redemption."     As  compared 


78         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

with  this  life,  the  reports  of  the  correspondents  refer  very 
much  to  the  new  conditions.  "  Nobody  on  earth  ever 
had  such  rejoicing  before,  as  the  women  have  now." 
"  All  the  women  are  quite  delighted."  "  Women  are 
rejoicing."  "  God  has  heard  their  prayers."  "  Women 
thank  God."  For  what  are  they  so  grateful,  and  about 
what  are  they  praying  ?  "  The  women  are  very  grateful 
for  this  good  deed  which  has  made  them  human  beings 
and  not  slaves."  "  Before,  women  were  treated  like 
animals  ;  now,  they  are  treated  like  human  beings." 
"In  a  word,  the  country  is  preparing  for  a  new  life." 
"  You  can  say  without  exaggeration  that  for  the  wives 
of  such  peasants  as  drank  before,  this  year  has  been 
the  happiest."  Many  of  the  correspondents  show  also 
how  the  changed  conditions  affect  the  life  of  the  children. 
A  priest  writes  :  "  A  mother  is  quite  safe  now,  and  the 
children  are  merry  and  gentle."  "  Children  don't  see 
quarrels  between  their  parents  now,  and  don't  hear  bad 
language."  "  Even  the  attendance  of  the  children  at 
school  is  better."  "  Children  have  better  things  to  eat, 
and  sweeties  in  their  pockets."  "  There  is  a  great  influence 
on  the  children,  because  some  drinking  parents  gave 
drink  to  their  children  '  for  health  '  :  the  children  are  in 
better  condition  now."  "  Now  they  have  no  bad  ex- 
amples." "  Now  the  children  get  presents  from  their 
parents  when  they  come  from  market."  More  attention 
is  paid  to  the  children. 

There  was  a  definite  question  about  drunkenness 
amongst  women  and  children.  Some  correspondents  say 
such  cases  are  not  infrequent.  "  Women  by  the  bad 
examples  of  their  husbands  try  to  drink  and  become 
drunkards  too."  "  There  were  such  cases  also  amongst 
children,  especially  boys  and  girls  from  10  to  14."  One 
report  mentions  drunkenness  in  children  of  6.  "The 
parents  being  drunk  gave  drink  to  their  boys  and  girls. 
Now  all  this  is  changed."  "  Women  are  quite  pleased 
with  the  war,  because  owing  to  it  they  have  got  pro- 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  79 

hibition  and  temperance.  They  say  '  War  is  not  so  bad 
as  the  Government  vodka  shop.'  They  are  afraid  that 
perhaps  the  shops  will  be  opened  afterwards.  They  do 
not  like  to  see  the  signboards  staying  up  :  they  are  hoping 
for  a  time  when  these  awful  shops  will  have  quite  dis- 
appeared." We  conclude  this  paragraph  with  extracts 
from  two  peasant  letters.  "  I  wish  to  write."  (He  was 
not  one  of  the  enlisted  correspondents),  "  When  we  had 
the  sale  of  wine  and  vodka,  it  was  a  terrible  life  for 
women  and  children, — hunger,  cold,  lack  of  clothing, 
beating,  sometimes  murder.  How  many  tears  were  shed 
by  women  and  children  !  It  was  such  a  struggle,  my  God. 
You  can  hear  everywhere,  '  We  are  preparing  our  sons 
and  husbands  for  the  war,  but  still  it  is  much  better 
than  before  when  we  were  suffering  so  much  for  drunken- 
ness.' Everyone  thanks  God  that  the  Government  has 
given  this  prohibition,  and  everyone  exclaims,  '  O  God, 
if  vodka  could  disappear  for  ever.'  "  The  second  testifies  : 
"  You  cannot  see  a  woman  now  with  bark  shoes,  nor 
children  going  to  school  in  tatters.  '  We  have  war  and 
sorrow,  but  we  have  no  wine  :  that  is  our  joy,'  say  the 
women.  And  I  must  say,  *  If  we  have  no  wine,  we 
have  no  sorrow.' " 

The  foregoing  questions  were  designed  to  elicit  the 
benefits  or  otherwise  conferred  by  the  prohibition  measure 
on  individual  households  and  peasant  economy  generally. 
The  answer  is  given  in  no  uncertain  tone.  Further 
questions  are  devoted  to  finding  out  whether  the  corre- 
spondents think  it  possible  to  have  permanent  pro- 
hibition. Is  there  any  tendency  amongst  the  population 
that  would  help  in  this  direction  ?  The  redactor  intro- 
duces the  subject  thus  :  Realisation  of  the  great  harm 
of  drunkenness  stimulated  the  peasants  to  struggle  in 
some  districts  for  temperance,  but  formerly  the  profit 
from  the  sale  of  drink  went  to  the  Government,  and  there 
was  no  idea  that  such  a  struggle  could  be  successful. 
There  were  movements  towards  temperance,  but  they 


80         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

were  stopped  at  once  because  of  obstacles,  Government 
and  other.  Another  reason  of  the  lack  of  success  of  the 
temperance  movement  was  that  it  needed  organisation 
among  the  people,  but  under  present  conditions,  such 
could  not  be  undertaken.  The  change,  therefore,  in 
the  drink-politic  in  the  beginning  of  last  year,  meant 
one  obstacle  less,  because  the  people  had  now  the 
right1  to  stop  the  sale  of  drink  by  the  decision  of 
their  Assemblies. 

How  did  the  peasants  use  this  right  in  the  Kostroma 
Government  ?  The  investigation  does  not  give  good 
material  to  answer  this.  In  some  places  the  sale  had  been 
stopped  before  the  proclamation.  Sometimes  the  de- 
cision was  taken  "  for  ever  "  :  in  two  cases  for  "  during 
the  war,"  and  "  for  three  years."  Previous  to  the  war 
a  decision  of  Assembly  had  been  reached  in  51  out  of 
243  volosts  in  the  Government  of  Kostroma.  While  some 
of  the  Assemblies  were  in  process  of  deciding,  the  war 
broke  out,  and  prohibition  came.  In  12  more  they 
answer  that  they  had  no  time  to  decide  themselves  because 
there  was  prohibition  by  the  Government.  Many  volosts 
made  no  decision  because  the  matter  was  taken  out  of 
their  hands  by  the  Government.  "  We  took  no  decision 
because  the  people  are  quite  sure  that  even  without 
their  decision  vodka  has  disappeared  for  ever."  "  From 
some  villages  where  there  were  no  decisions,  the  corre- 
spondents write  about  the  question  :  '  We  should  very 
much  like  the  stoppage  of  wine  ' :  '  there  is  great  need 
of  it '  :  '  everyone  would  like  it.'  "  In  some  cases  no 
decision  was  taken  because  there  did  not  happen  to  be  a 
Government  shop  in  the  village.  The  correspondence  is 
full  of  sidelights  on  the  situation.  A  priest  writes  : 
"  There  was  no  decision,  but  there  was  a  petition  from 
the  peasants  themselves  about  the  stoppage  of  vodka  for 
ever."  Another  correspondent  gives  a  copy  of  such  a 
petition  :  "  1914  year,  29th  day  [sic].     We,  the  under- 

1  Granted  March  11th,  1914. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  81 

signed,  even  during  a  very  short  period  of  prohibition, 
can  see  very  well  the  good  results,  material  and  spiritual, 
for  the  whole  population,  and  on  this  holiday  in  honour 
of  temperance,  we  all  agree  to  request  your  Excellency 
to  ask  His  Majesty  for  permanent  prohibition  as  a  neces- 
sity for  all  Russia,  and  that  for  every  kind  of  spirituous 
drink."  In  four  volosts  only  were  decisions  refused  or 
not  arrived  at  because  of  difference  of  opinion.  "  The 
Assembly  was  gathered,  but  many  were  against  the 
stoppage  of  the  sale."  "  We  had  such  a  question  up  in 
the  Assembly,  but  could  not  get  a  decision  because  of 
those  who  like  drink."  "  There  were  proposals  to  stop 
the  drink,  but  we  could  not  agree."  In  one  case  the 
failure  is  explained  by  the  bribe  of  the  salesman,  who 
gave  the  peasants  50  rubles.  "  There  was  no  decision, 
because  even  sober  people  need  wine  for  their  health." 
The  attitude  is  sometimes  quite  unambiguous  :  "  We 
cannot  think  about  such  a  decision  :  we  are  waiting  for 
the  opening  of  the  shop." 

To  the  questions,  Is  it  possible  in  your  opinion  to 
stop  the  sale  of  drink  permanently,  and,  What  results 
do  you  expect  if  this  is  accomplished?  there  are  579 
answers.  To  the  first  part  of  the  question,  531  reply  in 
the  affirmative,  and  8  in  the  negative.  Twenty-five 
answer,  "  Such  prohibition  is  not  necessary  "  ;  4  reply, 
"  We  cannot  say  "  ;  and  in  11  instances  the  answer  is 
indefinite. 

The  answers  to  the  second  part  of  the  question  bring 
out  not  merely  the  possibility  of,  but  an  actual  desire 
for,  permanent  stoppage  of  the  sale  of  vodka.  In  29 
instances  only  is  there,  out  of  531  answers,  no  answer 
to  the  second  question.  All  the  other  replies  (502)  are 
of  this  general  type  :  "  The  permanent  stoppage  of  the 
sale  of  spirits  is  quite  possible  and  actually  desired,  as 
it  will  give  good  results  in  the  future." 

It  is  peculiarly  important  to  study  the  reports  showing 
shades  of  opinion  amongst  those  who  yet  believe  in  the 


82         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

possibility  of  permanent  prohibition.  Of  such  reports 
there  are  104.  "  From  most  of  them  it  is  apparent,"  says 
the  redactor,  "  that  there  are  people  who  are  discontented 
with  prohibition,  but  only  in  20  instances  is  any  light  shed 
on  the  point  as  to  who  these  individuals  are."  It  is  clear, 
however,  that  they  comprise,  first,  those  who  had  profit 
from  the  sale  (for  there  were  shops  with  licence  to  sell 
vodka  other  than  the  Government  shop,  but  which 
bought  the  commodity  from  the  Government  shop)  : 
the  owners  of  restaurants  with  the  sale  of  wine  :  and  rich 
peasants  who  exploit  their  poorer  brothers.1  Finally, 
"  the  owners  of  premises  used  as  drink  shops  are  for  the 
renewal  of  the  sale."  "  Rich  peasants  are  against  the 
stoppage  more  than  the  poor  ones.  The  rich  ones  also 
sell  drink  on  the  sly,  and  bribe  the  police."  "  There 
are  some  people  who  are  very  fond  of  drink,  and  they 
are  for  the  reopening."  "  Only  the  old,  '  dark '  (i.e. 
uneducated,  not  well  read)  people  are  for  the  sale," — this 
correspondent  sees  a  certain  connection  between  lack  of 
education  and  drinking.  "  Some  who  have  hard  physical 
work,  e.g.  carters  and  brick  workers,  miss  vodka  because 
they  feel  the  need  of  it  for  their  strength  even  in  a  little 
dose."  From  another  report  we  learn  that  the  stoppage 
"  is  desired  only  by  women."  In  short,  for  the  stoppage 
are  those  who  did  not  drink  very  much,  the  poor,  those 
who  are  fairly  well  off,  and  all  women.  For  the  renewal 
or  reopening  stand  the  rich  peasants,  hopeless  drunkards, 
and  winesellers.  In  most  cases  even  these  correspondents 
say  that  the  discontented  are  really  few.  Only  in  a 
very  small  number  of  reports  is  it  stated  that  the  majority 
of  the  people  are  discontented  with  prohibition.  So  if 
the  majority  of  correspondents  see  that  the  stoppage  of 
the  sale  is  desirable  and  possible,  then  there  is  more 
reason  for  giving  the  more  detailed  explanations  of  the 
minority. 

1  They  run  private  loan  businesses,  and  do  better  the  more  their 
weaker  brothers  drink  themselves  intr>incapacity  and  debt. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  83 

Some  very  human  situations  are  depicted  in  this  group 
of  replies.  "  Before  giving  the  answers  to  the  question,  I 
gathered  20  householders  from  our  village,  and  I  read 
to  them  a  little  pamphlet  upon  temperance.  After  dis- 
cussing some  questions  about  the  influence  of  temperance 
on  our  life,  I  could  see  that  everybody  understood  the 
harm  of  vodka,  but  nobody  wanted  to  deprive  himself  of 
it.  And  on  my  question,  What  shall  I  write  about  the  per- 
manent stoppage  of  vodka  ?  nobody  gave  any  answer." 
A  priest  writes  :  "  Many  think  that  after  the  war,  even 
if  there  is  still  prohibition,  they  will  use  substitutes,  and 
in  general  they  all  believe  in  the  private  sale  of  drink 
after  the  war.  They  really  do  not  miss  it,  but  this  is 
because  of  the  war  :  at  the  end  of  the  war  perhaps  the 
old  conditions  will  begin  again."  Another  priest  writes  : 
"  I  do  not  believe  in  absolute  prohibition ;  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  be  in  mourning  for  ever."  One  correspon- 
dent is  very  argumentative.  "  Some  peasants  are  in 
favour  of  permanent  prohibition,  but  some  are  against 
it,  because  they  think  vodka  is  very  often  used  not  as  a 
drink  but  as  a  medicine,  especially  in  home-made  medi- 
cines (e.g.  from  berries).  They  can  cure  themselves  in 
this  way  without  the  help  of  doctors.  That  is  their 
opinion  about  vodka.  Those  who  live  in  the  large  cities 
and  have  never  been  in  the  country  think  that  the  Russian 
people  are  very  intemperate,  but  this  is  not  correct. 
Of  course  the  Russian  peasant  is  quite  ready  for  a  drink, 
but  there  are  many  reasons  for  this,  e.g.  climate  and  hard 
work,  and  after  all  it  is  not  very  often  that  he  has  this 
pleasure.  Those  who  know  how  poor  the  Russian  peasant 
is,  and  how  difficult  it  is  for  him  to  earn  a  little  money, 
will  understand  that  he  cannot  afford  to  drink  con- 
tinually. He  buys  vodka  for  Christmas,  Shrovetide, 
Easter,  and  Church  holidays,  but  does  not  buy  it  par- 
ticularly for  himself  but  rather  for  his  friends.  Of  course 
he  drinks  himself  as  well,  but  there  are  not  so  many  such 
holidays  in  the  year.    Vodka  is  necessary  not  for  drunken- 


84         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

ness,  but  because  of  its  utility.  During  the  war,  pro- 
hibition is  very  good.  .  .  . 

"  I  think,  as  the  people  do,  that  vodka  is  necessary 
as  medicine  for  cattle  (external  application),  and  for 
people.  Temperance  is  a  very  good  thing,  but  for  people 
who  have  to  work  very  hard  it  is  difficult  to  get  on  with- 
out vodka." 

Some  are  afraid  that  with  permanent  prohibition, 
the  people  will  try  to  make  their  own  drink  and  suffer 
from  it.  Others  fear  the  financial  deficit,  and  the  conse- 
quent imposition  of  new  taxes.  "  Don't  introduce  per- 
manent prohibition.  If  the  sale  of  vodka  is  stopped  for 
ever,  where  will  the  imperial  budget  get  its  revenue  ? 
We  shall  have  taxes  on  the  necessary  commodities  with- 
out which  we  cannot  live.  But  we  can  do  without  vodka  ; 
not  everyone  wants  it."  Two  or  three  correspondents 
do  not  like  the  implied  restriction  of  the  liberty  of  the 
individual.  "  Such  a  measure  as  prohibition  is  not  at 
all  right  as  a  method  in  upbringing.  Such  measures 
can  be  used  for  quite  hopeless  people,  but  even  in  these 
cases  it  would  be  better  to  adopt  some  more  positive 
educational  method  ;  a  measure  like  prohibition  should 
only  be  employed  temporarily.  Our  sobriety  was  forced 
upon  us,  and  at  a  time  when  every  good  person,  even 
without  prohibition,  cannot  enjoy  life  ;  therefore  such  a 
change  in  the  life  of  the  people  is  due  not  only  to  temper- 
ance but  to  the  expectation  of  something  terrible  and 
indefinite  that  is  going  to  happen.  In  spite  of  all  the  news- 
papers which  talk  about  the  victory  of  Russia,  every- 
one realises  the  cost  of  this  victory  for  every  family. 
How  can  they  enjoy  such  victory  if  their  dearest  are  miss- 
ing ?  These  thoughts,  I  think,  make  people  sober  much 
more  than  any  prohibition."  Or  again  :  "  Permanent 
prohibition  is  impossible.  Even  in  the  Scriptures  we 
read  that  '  Wine  makes  glad  the  heart  of  man,'  especially 
at  weddings,  holidays,  and  winter  work.  The  peasant's 
body  and  that  of  the  workers  is  not  in  a  good  condition 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  85 

from  lack  of  nutritious  food,  and  when  they  feel  cold, 
vodka  helps,  because  it  quickens  the  activity  of  the  heart : 
of  course  not  for  a  long  time,  but  it  helps  men  to  feel 
better,  and  that  is  very  much  for  the  working  people. 
Of  course  it  would  be  possible  to  have  permanent 
prohibition  if  we  had  good  theatres,  schools,  lectures, 
excursions,  and  evening  classes.  But  without  all  these 
things,  the  peasant  does  not  know  what  to  do  during 
his  long  winter  evenings.  He  has  nowhere  to  go  but  to 
his  neighbour  who  is  also  uneducated,  and  the  only  place 
for  them  to  go  is  to  this  Government  shop.  They  go 
there  for  vodka,  and  drink  till  they  forget  themselves." 
So  then,  the  dangers  of  substitutes,  fear  of  new  taxes, 
and  the  necessity  of  vodka  for  working  people  are  the 
arguments  most  commonly  employed  by  those  in  favour 
of  the  renewal  of  the  sale  after  the  war. 

On  the  other  hand,  these  considerations  have  no  weight 
with  the  great  majority  of  correspondents.  "  The  pos- 
sibility of  new  taxes  should  not  frighten  them,"  says 
one,  "  because  with  temperance  the  people  will  be  better 
off."  In  some  reports  the  people  are  described  as  quite 
prepared  for  new  taxes  in  place  of  the  profit  from 
drink.  One  peasant  says  he  is  quite  willing  to  pay  50 
kopeks  a  year  per  head  of  his  household  as  a  substitute 
for  the  Government  drink  profit.  Others  say  they  will 
pay  more.  A  priest  writes  :  "  They  don't  miss  vodka, 
and  many  peasants  who  liked  it  very  much  before  are 
quite  willing  to  pay  10  rubles  a  year  in  order  not  to  have 
the  temptation  of  vodka."  "  Any  kind  of  tax  is  better 
than  vodka."  "  Prohibition  is  quite  possible.  Of  course 
the  Government  will  lose  its  profit,  but  if  we  have  new 
taxes,  not  very  heavy,  this  gap  in  profits  will  be  filled, 
and  there  will  be  the  clear  heads  of  the  people  into  the 
bargain.  There  will  be  less  absence  from  work,  and  we 
won't  need  money  to  drink  away  our  drink-headaches." 
We  must  then  balance  opinions  about  the  utility  of  vodka 
for  working  people  by  the  statements  about  the  improved 


86         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

conditions  of  peasant  life.  The  views  about  substitutes, 
taxes,  and  the  utility  of  vodka  are  not  so  serious  as  the  sug- 
gestion about  the  implied  deprivation  of  liberty.  "  Yet," 
as  the  redactor  remarks,  "  some  kind  of  deprivation  is 
quite  inevitable  when  the  interests  of  individuals  or 
separate  groups  are  compared  with  the  interests  of  the 
whole.  For  the  individual  it  would  be  the  same  depriva- 
tion of  liberty  if  this  decision  (of  prohibition)  had  been 
voted  by  the  people  itself." 

From  many  of  the  reports  it  is  evident  that  fresh 
educational  measures  are  considered  necessary  to  aid 
continued  prohibition,  because  a  new  sober  country  needs 
culture,  and  every  kind  of  such  measure  will  be  accepted 
with  great  joy.  "  I  cannot  say,"  writes  a  correspondent, 
"  what  will  be  the  case  in  the  future,  but  they  need 
something  instead  of  wine.  (He  noted  that  some  are 
taking  to  gambling  instead.)  The  need  is  so  great  that 
even  the  local  '  intelligentsiya  '  cannot  meet  the  need 
(i.e.  even  if  they  put  all  their  strength  into  providing 
entertainment, — lectures,  etc)."  "  Entertainments  are 
quite  necessary  ;  but  the  libraries  (of  the  Government) 
do  not  give  the  people  anything  :  they  need  good  books, 
good  lectures,  good  theatres,  etc."  "  The  people  want  to 
open  their  own  (free)  libraries,  and  get  books,  etc.,  of  their 
own  choosing."  Yet  others  fall  back  ultimately  on  pro- 
hibition :  "  Prohibition  is  quite  necessary  for  everything  ; 
for  economical  wealth,  for  their  health,  physical  and  moral 
improvement,  and  for  the  stoppage  of  hooliganism  and 
crime  :  without  it  the  people  will  be  quite  lost.  Schools 
or  hospitals  cannot  help."  A  priest  writes  :  "  You  can 
expect  improvement  in  the  people's  life  only  from  per- 
manent prohibition  :  all  other  measures  and  expendi- 
tures by  Government  or  societies  are  quite  useless.  Now 
crimes  are  decreasing,  and  the  reason  of  it  I  see  in  pro- 
hibition. '  We  could  not  get  such  results  by  education. 
Prohibition  is  the  only  salvation  for  Russia." 

The  results  of  prohibition  according  to  another  corre- 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  87 

spondent,  are  decrease  of  crime,  stoppage  of  hooliganism, 
increase  of  labour  capacity,  and  decrease  of  poverty  ; 
these  are  undoubted.  Prohibition,  he  says,  is  the  only 
measure  to  get  people  temperate,  especially  for  those  who 
cannot  withstand  the  temptation  from  lack  of  will.  "  I 
spoke  with  many  who  used  to  drink  very  much,  and  every- 
one is  pleased  now."  "  Two  or  three  years  more,"  says 
another,  "  and  our  country  will  be  unrecognisable." 
Another  correspondent  sees  a  great  change  in  everything. 
"  It  is  evident  the  Russian  people  have  suffered  so  much 
that  it  is  very  difficult  for  them  to  believe  such  a  great 
benefit  can  be  given  to  them  permanently.  They  do  not 
complain,  they  have  great  sorrow  and  think  it  is  a  neces- 
sary part  of  their  existence  ;  as  Nekrasov  says,  '  this 
poor  unknown  people  are  carrying  their  great  sorrow 
hidden  in  their  hearts.'  "  A  peasant  says  :  "  Permanent 
prohibition  is  possible,  but  the  population  doubt  if  the 
Government  will  continue  to  surrender  this  source  of 
profit.  In  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  news  of 
our  great  losses  at  the  front,  and  the  people  only  said, 
'  That  is  the  will  of  God ' :  but  when  in  the  beginning 
of  November  there  were  rumours  about  the  renewed  sale 
of  beer  and  other  kinds  of  wine,  the  people  were  quite 
disappointed  and  considered  it  as  a  great  misfortune. 
But  now  they  again  have  hope  and  believe  in  permanent 
prohibition."  A  priest  writes  :  "  It  was  interesting  to 
see  the  disappointment  of  hopeless  drunkards  at  the  rumour 
about  reopening  beer  shops  on  the  1st  November.  Evi- 
dently they  understood  themselves  that  they  were  in 
that  plight  simply  owing  to  their  impaired  wills.  They 
say  :  '  It  was  so  good  :  there  was  no  vodka  and  we  did 
not  need  it ;  and  now  it  is  to  begin  again  !  How  can  we 
stand  such  temptation  ?  '  "  A  peasant  who  says  of  him- 
self that  he  was  a  heavy  drinker  continues  :  "  I  believe 
in  permanent  prohibition  and  good  results  from  it  for  all 
sides  of  peasant  life.  Not  everyone  believes  in  these 
good  results,  because  they  are  personally  very  much 


88         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

devoted  to  vodka  :  they  think  that  without  vodka  it 
would  be  difficult  to  live.  But  if  the  Government  can 
give  permanent  prohibition,  it  will  be  a  great  benefit 
to  our  district.  I  used  to  drink  very  much  and  could  not 
help  drinking,  but  I  am  very  pleased  with  prohibition. 
Now  I  have  more  money  and  more  leisure,  and  not  only 
I,  but  the  whole  population  is  sober."  Another  peasant 
writes  :  "  What  is  impossible  with  man  is  possible  with 
God.  I  used  to  drink  very  much  to  keep  company  and 
for  my  own  health.  But  with  prohibition,  without  vodka, 
I  feel  much  better  physically  and  morally.  Also  I  have 
heard  from  those  who  used  to  drink  very  much,  that  vodka 
is  so  harmful  that  it  is  difficult  to  calculate  all  its  harm- 
fulness."  Another  is  peculiarly  frank  in  his  exposure  of 
his  fellows'  lives.  "  Some  people  try  to  justify  themselves 
by  pleading  inherited  alcoholism,  but  now  they  have  to 
stop  drinking  without  any  medical  assistance  or  help  from 
any  of  the  quacks,  who  are  quite  idle  without  vodka.1  I 
am  for  permanent  prohibition.    Sazonoff." 

The  majority  of  correspondents  are  therefore  agreed 
in  principle  about  the  possibility  and  desirability  of  per- 
manent prohibition.  The  reports  show  that  the  country 
no  longer  approves  of  its  dark,  drink-sodden  past.  If 
it  continued  so  any  longer,  it  would  in  the  opinion  of 
many  of  the  correspondents  be  quite  "  ruined,"  and 
"  degraded."  "  I  cannot  believe,"  writes  a  peasant, 
"  that  the  Government  will  begin  again  the  sale  of  vodka. 
Why,  it  is  prohibited  to  spread  cholera  or  Siberian 
plague  or  rabies,  but  the  drink  cannot  be  prohibited  for 
ever  !  "  The  consciousness  that  the  country  can  avoid 
this  allows  some  correspondents  to  consider  permanent 
prohibition  as  "  the  greatest  reform,  and  a  most  beauti- 
ful action."  Or  as  a  peasant  puts  it :  "  With  the  declara- 
tion of  mobilisation  we  conquered  our  first  and  worst 
enemy, — vodka,    from    which    all    the    Russian    people 

1  He  means  that  people  who  drank  used  to  go  to  them  for  charms  or 
simples  against  drunkenness. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  89 

suffered  so  much.  Now  Russia  can  have  relief,  and  we 
shall  have  the  holy  joy  of  the  resurrection  of  the  nation." 
The  last  question  was  formulated  thus  :  "  What  does 
the  country  expect  from  absolute  prohibition  ?  "  Besides 
short  answers  like,  "  for  the  best,"  "  prosperity,"  "  the 
best  of  futures,"  there  are  fifty  longer  answers  with  ex- 
planations of  this  "  best  future."  "  They  are  quite 
accustomed  to  the  idea  of  the  shutting  of  the  Govern- 
ment shops.  Seeing  only  good  results  from  it,  they  all 
want  vodka  prohibited  for  ever.  In  general,  prohibition 
will  bring  us  to  general  wealth,  to  a  sober  labour-life  as 
we  see  it  even  now  after  the  beginning  of  prohibition. 
We  ask  God  to  take  vodka  from  us  for  ever."  Another 
peasant  writes  :  "  Prohibition  is  possible  and  desirable  ; 
it  will  bring  us  economical  wealth,  education  and  moral 
regeneration."  "  The  wish  of  one  from  the  country  : 
Let  prohibition  be  for  ever  ;  long  live  the  vodka-free 
labour  of  the  Russian  people."  "  With  permanent  pro- 
hibition we  shall  have  quietness  in  our  lives,  and  the 
very  nature  of  the  people  will  be  changed.  We  shall 
have  a  new  generation  without  drinking  traditions." 
"  What  will  our  descendants  say  ?  They  will  erect  a 
monument,  and  keep  holiday  on  the  anniversary  of  pro- 
hibition." A  priest  writes  :  "  When  I  was  filling  up  the 
schedule  about  temperance,  a  peasant  entered  the  room, 
and  when  I  read  to  him  what  I  had  written,  he  said,  '  I 
should  like  everyone  to  know  how  good  our  life  is  without 
vodka.  Let  it  disappear  for  ever.'  "  "  With  this  wish," 
concludes  the  redactor,  "  we  finish  our  article, — with 
the  hope  that  a  temperate  people  will  find  the  way  to 
a  free  and  joyful  life." 


Ill 

IN  THE  TOWNS  AND  FACTORIES 

THE  unique  social  experiment  conducted  on  the 
scale  of  an  empire  in  the  Russia  of  to-day  has 
already  been  the  subject  of  various  local  studies,  of  which 
the  most  exact  and  detailed,  up  to  the  present  time, 
has  undoubtedly  been  that  undertaken  by  the  Statistical 
Bureau  of  the  Society  of  Mill  and  Factory  Owners  in  the 
Moscow  District,  in  conjunction  with  the  Tchuproff 
Economical  Society.  The  one  element  of  the  combina- 
tion provided  a  guarantee  of  reliability  in  the  furnishing 
of  statistics  ;  the  other  ensured  accurate  and  discerning 
study  of  them.  The  investigation  resolved  itself  into 
two  parts.  The  first,  dealing  with  the  effects  of  prohibi- 
tion on  the  whole  mass  of  workers,  had  under  review  more 
general  questions  relating  to  their  status,  working-time, 
non-appearances,  accidents,  and  fines.  The  second  in- 
vestigation attempting  to  reach  more  accurate  answers, 
particularly  with  regard  to  working-time,  non-appear- 
ances, and  piece-work  wages,  was  restricted  to  certain 
suitable  groups  of  workers. 

(a) 
The  first  investigation  opens  with  the  observation  that 
in  Russian  commercial  and  industrial  circles  there  is  an 
opinion  that  home  industry  ought  to  be  protected  against 
the  industrial  encroachments  of  neighbouring  countries, 
and  as  argument  is  cited  the  low  productivity  of  the 
Russian  workman,  which  makes  commodities  dearer  in 
Russia  than  abroad.  Without  taking  into  consideration 
the  intensity  of  labour  of  the  Russian  and  foreign  work- 
man, it  appears  that  in  a  comparison  between  the  length 

90 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  91 

of  the  normal  working  day  in  Russia  and  abroad,  the 
disadvantage  lies  with  Russian  industry.  Official  and 
local  holidays  make  the  working  year  of  the  Russian 
workman  4  per  cent  shorter  than  that  of  the  English, 
and  6  per  cent  shorter  than  that  of  the  German  workman. 
This  difference  alone  makes  competition  with  foreign, 
and  especially  German,  imports  difficult. 

Now  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  low  productivity 
in  the  Russian  mills  and  factories  has  always  been 
widespread  drunkenness.  Constant  intemperance  has 
had  disastrous  effects  not  only  on  the  intensity  and  con- 
tinuity of  the  output,  but  also  on  the  quality  and  per- 
fection of  the  work,  as  also  on  internal  organisation,  and 
the  relations  between  worker  and  employer.  The  leaders 
of  the  Russian  industrial  class  have  long  understood  the 
greatness  of  the  evil  caused  by  intemperance,  but  their 
voice  was  silenced  by  the  influence  of  the  other  classes 
and  by  the  interests  of  the  Imperial  budget.  The  mill- 
owners  fought  against  the  evil  at  their  own  risk  by  em- 
ploying only  sober  workmen  or  by  enforcing  the  signing 
of  the  pledge.  But  such  measures  were  of  little  or  no 
avail :  it  needed  the  trials  of  war-time  to  bring  about  the 
realisation  of  a  sober  nation.  It  is  quite  evident  that  the 
members  of  the  Society  have  been  so  impressed  with  the 
results  of  prohibition  that  they  have  felt  it  their  duty, 
in  face  of  great  difficulties,  not  merely  to  make  these 
investigations  but  to  publish  the  results,  in  order  that 
an  unequivocal  answer  may  be  at  hand  wherewith  to  meet 
the  opposition  that  they  anticipate  may  be  offered  afresh 
to  the  reform  after  the  end  of  the  war.  "  The  success  of 
the  undertaking  (answers  were  received  within  a  month, 
covering  one-fourth  of  all  the  mill- workers  of  the  District) 
shows  us  that  the  temperance  movement  has  many  sup- 
porters among  manufacturers,  and  has  already  produced 
wonderful  results."  The  aim  of  the  investigation  was  to 
determine  the  extent  of  the  evil  and  to  furnish  statistics. 
We  must  bear  in  mind,  however,  the  short  time  devoted 


92         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

to  the  enquiry,  as  well  as  the  fact  that  many  aspects  of 
economic  life  cannot  be  expressed  in  figures. 

The  evil  of  intemperance  is  most  clearly  seen  when  we 
take  up  the  question  of  "  non-appearance."  This  term 
("  progul  ")  ordinarily  covers  every  kind  of  absence  from 
work,  however  short,  as  coming  late,  absence  due  to  ill- 
ness, strikes,  leave  of  absence,  etc.  In  itself  the  term 
means  curtailing  of  the  normal  working-time,  and  there- 
fore must  be  considered  as  a  lowering  of  productivity. 
Drunkenness  as  a  cause  of  non-appearance  comes  second 
only  to  illness,  but  that  very  illness  is  often  due  to  drunken- 
ness. That  is  why  non-appearances  form  such  an  im- 
portant factor  in  this  investigation.  Another  reason  of 
their  importance  is  that  an  exact  record  of  non-appear- 
ances is  always  kept  by  mill  and  factory  managers.  As 
non-appearances  show  the  amount  of  time  lost  and  there- 
fore the  lowering  of  productivity,  the  decrease  of  non- 
appearances enables  us  to  determine  what  temperance 
has  done,  and  shows  the  increase  of  productivity  from 
the  very  first  day  of  the  prohibition. 

This  investigation  not  only  tried  to  determine  the 
increase  of  productivity,  but  also  to  show  the  influence 
of  prohibition  on  the  health  and  morals  of  workmen  :  on 
this  account  illness,  accidents,  and  fines  must  be  taken 
into  consideration. 

All  these  points  were  the  subject  of  the  first  investiga- 
tion. The  reports  deal  with  the  months  August,  Septem- 
ber, and  October,  1913  and  1914  respectively,  and  thus 
provide  comparison  of  the  first  three  months  of  prohibi- 
tion with  the  corresponding  period  in  the  previous  year. 

Answers  were  received  from  172  factories  with  a  total 
of  214,700  workers,  i.e.  one-fourth  of  all  the  mill-workers 
of  the  Moscow  District.1  In  view  of  the  fact  that  some 
answers  were  inadequate,  a  group  of  189.250  was  taken 
concerning  which  there  are  full  answers  as  to  working 
hours,  all  kinds  of  non-appearances,  and  accidents. 
1  The  Moscow  district  here  comprises  ten  governments. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA 


93 


Number  of  workers 

in  the  first 

investigation. 

Total  number  of  workers 
in  the  Moscow  district 
in  1913  according 
to  statistics  of  the 
mill  inspection. 

Percentage. 

Men 

106,379 

454,082 

23-4 

Women 

69,328 

329,993 

210 

Boys  and  Girls 

12,293 

78,159 

15-7 

Children 

1,250 

14,153 

91 

Total 


189,250 


876,387 


21-5 


This  table  refers  to  the  period  of  three  months  (August- 
October,  1913),  a  time  of  normal  working  order.  The 
small  number  of  boys,  girls,  and  children  may  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  the  investigation  chiefly  con- 
cerned large  factories  with  an  average  of  1200  workers, 
while  the  average  for  the  district  is  250  :  children  are  not 
employed  so  much  in  the  larger  factories. 

The  total  number  of  workers  concerned  in  the  investi- 
gation varied  according  to  the  months  as  follows  : 


Total  number  of 
workers  in   1913 

Total  number  of 
workers  in    1914 


August. 

186,800 


September. 

189,400 


October. 

191,600 


Average  for 
three  months. 


176,300     183,100 


189,300 
185,200      181,500 


In  August  of  1914,  owing  to  the  mobilisation,  there 
was  a  shortage  of  workers  as  compared  with  August, 
1913,  to  the  extent  of  10,500,  or  5-6  per  cent.  On  an 
average  during  August-October,  1914,  the  number  of 
workers  was  4  per  cent  less  than  in  1913.  The  average 
number  of  men  decreased  10,000,  or  9-4  per  cent,  and  the 
number  of  women  increased  by  only  2200.  The  number 
of  boys,  girls,  and  children  increased  but  slightly. 

The  highest  percentage  of  decrease  was  found  in  the 
chemical  industry,  i.e.  about  18  per  cent,  in  the  wool 
industry  15  per  cent,  cotton  13  per  cent,  and  in  the  metal 
industry  only  3  per  cent.  The  last  small  percentage  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  metal  industry  the  gaps  caused 
by  the  mobilisation  had  to  be  filled  up  without  delay. 


94         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

We  get  a  clearer  picture  of  the  difference  in  the  output 
of  work  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  from  statistics 
giving  the  number  of  normal  working  days1  during  each 
of  the  months  under  consideration.  (1  working  day=l 
calendar  working  day  X 1  worker.) 

Number  of  normal  work- 
ing   days    in    thousands     August.       September.      October.  Total. 

in  1913        .         .         .  4,400-0    4,383-8    4,814-1     13,597-8 
Number  of  normal  work- 
ing days  in  thousands 
in  1914        .         .         .  3,660-5    3,996-3    4,281-9    11,938-7 

In  August  1914,  the  number  of  working  days  de- 
creased by  17  per  cent  as  compared  with  August,  1913, 
whereas  the  number  of  workers  decreased  only  5-6  per 
cent ;  in  October  the  number  of  days  was  only  1 1  per 
cent  lower,  while  the  number  of  workers  decreased  by 
8-3  per  cent.  The  average  decrease  in  the  number  of 
normal  working  days  in  August-October,  1915,  was 
12-5  per  cent  lower  as  compared  with  1913.  This  de- 
crease may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  many  (especi- 
ally textile)  factories  the  number  of  working  days  was 
reduced  to  4  or  even  3  days  a  week.  The  greatest  de- 
crease was  noticeable  in  the  wool  industry  (23  per  cent) 
and  in  the  cotton  industry  (15  per  cent).  In  the  chemical 
industry  it  was  11  per  cent,  but  in  the  metal  industry 
there  was  only  a  decrease  of  4  per  cent.  The  average 
length  of  working  time  in  August-October,  1913-1914, 
in  calendar  days  was  72  days  in  1913  and  66  days  in  1914. 
Short  time  in  the  mills  and  factories  in  the  autumn  of 
1914  was  due  not  only  to  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
workers  and  normal  working  days,  but  also  to  a  decrease 
in  normal  working  hours.2 

1  By  the  term  "normal  working  day"  is  understood  the  day  as  fixed 
by  the  mill-regulations,  but  not  the  day  really  put  in  by  the  worker. 

2  By  the  term  "  normal  working  hour"  is  understood  the  hour  as  fixed 
by  the  mill-regulations,  not  the  hour  really  put  in  by  the  worker. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  95 

The  statistics  of  the  number  of  normal  working  hours 
give  us  a  real  idea  of  the  state  of  the  mill  and  factory 
industry  during  the  first  months  of  the  war.  (1  normal 
working  hour  =  1  worker  X 1  normal  working  day  X  1  hour 
of  the  normal  working  day.) 

Number  of  normal  work- 
ing hours  in  thousands      August.       September.       October.  Total. 

in  1913      .         .         .  40,420-7  41,450-3  44,507-7  126,378-7 
Number  of  normal  work- 
ing hours  in  thousands 
in  1914      .         .         .  33,333-7  39,902-2  39,159-8  108,395-7 

In  August,  1914,  the  number  of  normal  hours,  and 
therefore  the  output  of  all  mills  and  factories  in  the  Mos- 
cow District  which  underwent  investigation,  was  17-5  per 
cent  lower  than  that  of  August,  1913.  In  October, 
1914,  the  number  of  working  hours  decreased  only  12  per 
cent.  The  total  decrease  in  the  number  of  working  hours 
during  the  three  months  in  1914  was  14-2  per  cent  lower 
as  compared  with  1913.  Besides  this  number  of  normal 
hours  the  workers  put  in  3,487,700  hours  overtime  in  1913, 
and  2,951,800  hours  in  1914.  Thus  we  have  the  following 
figures  showing  the  state  of  the  mill  and  factory  industry 
of  the  Moscow  District  in  1914  as  compared  with  1913. 

The  number  of  workers  decreased         .         .      4-0% 
,,         ,,        working  days  decreased  .    12-5% 

„        „        working  hours  decreased        .    14-2% 

After  this  short  analysis  of  the  changes  in  industry 
produced  by  the  war,  we  may  turn  to  the  analysis  of  the 
changes  brought  about  by  the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of 
strong  drink. 

w 

Under  the  term  "  non-appearance,"  the  First  Investiga- 
tion comprised  every  case  of  non-appearance  of  workers, 


96         THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

except  those  caused  by  strikes,  mobilisation,  leave  of 
absence,  and  temporary  cessation  of  work  at  the  mills. 
Thus  we  have  here  only  to  deal  with  cases  of  non-appear- 
ance due  to  intemperance,  illness,  home-circumstances,  etc. 
The  following  table  gives  the  time  missed  by  workmen 
in  hours  : 

Total     number     Of  Average  number 

of  non-appear- 
non-appearances     August.      September.    October.       Total.        ancesofone 

in   thousands   of  fen*  matte 

hours,  1913         .  1,4111  1,368-5  1,567-9  4,347-5       23-0 
Total   number   of 
non  -  appearances 
in   thousands   of 
hours,  1914        .     979-0      947-5  1,075-3  3,001-8       16-5 

During  the  first  three  months  of  the  war  the  non- 
appearances of  workmen  decreased  1345-7  hours,  or  31 
per  cent.  Such  a  marked  decrease,  however,  was  not  only 
due  to  prohibition,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  in  the  autumn 
of  1914,  the  mills  went  on  short  time,  which  of  necessity 
gave  less  scope  for  non-appearances  and  made  the  latter 
undesirable  as  wages  were  reduced  to  the  minimum. 

To  determine  the  real  extent  of  the  decrease,  we  must 
take  the  number  of  non-appearances  to  every  100  hours 
of  the  normal  working  time  in  factories  working  normally 
in  the  autumn  of  1914,  and  in  factories  working  short  time. 

In  1913,  to  every  100  hours  of  normal  working  time 
there  were  3-44  hours  of  non-appearance,  and  in  1914, 
2-79  hours,  so  that  in  consequence  of  short  time  and 
temperance  amongst  workers  we  find  a  decrease  of  19  per 
cent.  The  non-appearances  of  workers  employed  nor- 
mally in  1913  amounted  to  3-47  hours  to  every  100  hours 
of  normal  working  time,  and  in  1914,  2-57  hours — a  differ- 
ence of  27  per  cent.  If  we  compare  non-appearances  in  one 
and  the  same  branch  of  industry,  always  taking  the  same 
number  of  workers,  the  influence  of  short  time  will  appear 
more  clearly.    Thus  in  cotton  factories  working  normally 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  97 

in  1914  there  was  a  decrease  of  only  2  per  cent,  and  in 
factories  on  short  time  a  decrease  of  9*4  per  cent. 

The  study  of  the  statistics  further  demonstrates  a 
great  decrease  in  the  non-appearances  of  men,  namely, 
11,47,600  hours,  or  36-8  per  cent.  Herein  we  trace  the 
first  beneficial  influence  of  the  prohibition,  i.e.  of  tem- 
perance. Further,  the  industries  which  suffered  most 
from  intemperance  benefited  most  by  temperance. 

For  greater  clearness  we  now  take  factories  working 
normally  both  in  1913  and  1914,  and  compare  the  non- 
appearances of  men,  women,  and  boys  and  girls  in  the 
different  branches  of  industry.  Such  comparison  will 
give  us  the  increase  of  productivity  in  at  least  part  of 
the  factories  of  the  Moscow  District  under  normal  con- 
ditions. The  data1  show  that  in  some  cases  there  is  an 
increase  of  non-appearances  among  women,  which  goes 
to  prove  that  the  prohibition  had  no  effect  upon  them, 
But  the  striking  decrease  among  men  in  1914  proves  that 
their  former  non-appearances  were  mostly  due  to  drink. 

It  is  thus  easy  to  calculate  the  percentage  of  increase 
in  productivity  in  the  different  industries  dealt  with 
above.  The  reason  of  increased  productivity  is  the 
better  use  of  normal  working  time  :  therefore  the  per- 
centage of  increase  in  productivity  must  equal  the 
increase  of  working  time  put  in.  The  result  of  such  cal- 
culation is  that  owing  to  temperance  and  the  consequent 
decrease  in  non-appearances,  the  productivity  of  five 
branches  of  industry  under  normal  conditions  should 
show  an  increase  of  0-52  per  cent  in  the  Moscow  District 
and  0-59  per  cent  for  the  whole  Empire.  This  low  rate 
of  increase  in  productivity  (about  half)  may  seem  dis- 
appointing to  the  friends  of  the  temperance  movement, 
but  we  must  not  forget  that  the  decrease  of  non-appear- 
ances is  not  the  only  reason  of  increased  productivity, 
and  also  that  this  percentage  applies  to  the  whole  mass 

1  Considerations  of  space  prevent  their  reproduction  in  detail  at  this 
and  other  points  :  the  results  alone  can  be  given. 


98         THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

of  workers,  while  men  who  benefited  most  by  temperance 
form  only  62  per  cent. 

Most  non-appearances  naturally  occur  after  the  holi- 
days and  pay-days.  In  August-October,  1913,  out  of  a 
total  of  4,347,500  hours  of  non-appearance,  the  non- 
appearances after  holidays  were  1,017,100  hours,  or 
23  per  cent.  In  August-October,  1914,  non-appearances 
after  holidays  formed  only  18  per  cent.  In  1913  non- 
appearances after  pay-days  occurred  more  frequently 
than  after  holidays,  and  in  1914  they  were  almost  equal. 

As  illness  among  workmen  is  very  often  the  result  of 
intemperance,  one  would  expect  a  decrease  in  non- 
appearances due  to  illness  after  the  prohibition,  but 
owing  to  various  causes  an  increase  was  observed.  In 
1914  there  was  an  increase  of  20  per  cent.  This  unex- 
pected increase  has  been  fully  explained  by  the  factory 
owners  themselves,  as  being  the  direct  consequence  of  a 
national  scheme  of  sickness  insurance  of  workers,  which 
was  introduced  in  the  autumn  of  1914.  Owing  to  this 
insurance  (1)  the  registration  of  non-appearances  due  to 
illness  was  brought  to  a  higher  state  of  perfection,  and 
(2)  workers  no  longer  appeared  in  a  state  of  ill-health  but 
applied  for  aid.  Another  cause  of  this  increase  was  that 
the  stronger  men  had  all  joined  the  forces,  owing  to  the 
mobilisation,  and  their  places  were  taken  by  men  of 
weaker  physique  or  by  women. 

As  stated  above,  non-appearances  due  to  illness  in- 
creased 20  per  cent  in  1914  ;  assuming  that,  compared 
with  1913,  there  was  no  increase  in  1914  (as  the  increase 
was  wholly  due  to  national  sickness  insurance),  we  will 
find  that  the  total  of  non-appearances  is  2-45  hours  to 
every  100  working  hours  instead  of  the  actual  2-79  hours. 
This  last  assumption  makes  it  possible  to  raise  the  per- 
centage of  productivity  from  0-52  per  cent  to  0-72  per 
cent  in  the  Moscow  District,  and  from  0-59  per  cent  to 
0-89  per  cent  for  the  whole  Empire. 

With  regard  to  accidents,  the  statistics  show  that  there 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  99 

was  not  only  no  decrease,  but  even  an  increase  in  1914. 
This  fact  may  be  explained  by  the  employment  of  un- 
skilled workers  in  place  of  those  who  were  called  to  the 
colours.  But  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  number 
of  accidents  after  holidays  shows  a  tendency  to  decrease. 
Fines  are  entered  in  a  special  register  under  three 
headings  : 

(1)  For  bad  work  ; 

(2)  For  non-appearance  ;  and 

(3)  For  disorderly  conduct. 

All  three  cases  can  be  regarded  as  resulting  from  intem- 
perance, and  therefore  the  record  of  fines  enables  us  to 
form  a  good  idea  of  what  temperance  did  for  the  workmen 
in  the  autumn  of  1914.  The  total  number  of  fines  in 
rubles  is  as  follows  : 


August. 

September. 

October. 

Total. 

1913      . 

.     14,042 

14,671 

17,335 

46,048 

1914      . 

.      8,752 

8,140 

9,668 

26,560 

These  data  refer  to  196,242  workers  in  1913,  and  to 
188,380  workers  in  1914.  The  total  number  of  fines 
decreased  considerably  in  1914,  but  not  equally  in  all 
three  categories  : 

1913.  1914. 

1.  For  bad  work         .         .     19,003  rubles     15,889  rubles. 

2.  For  non-appearances       .     21,667      „  8,098      „ 

3.  For  disorderly  conduct    .       5,378      „         2,573 

Thus  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  inner  life  of 
the  mills  and  factories  went  on  more  smoothly  after 
prohibition. 

(c) 

To  determine  the  increase  of  intensity  of  labour  (pro- 
ductivity) due  to  temperance  among  workmen,  the 
Society  of  Mill  and  Factory  Owners  of  the  Moscow  Dis- 
trict dealt  in  their  second  investigation  with  the  fluctua- 


100       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

tions  in  piece-work  wages.  Wages  were  chosen  as  a 
standard  whereby  to  measure  the  increase  of  intensity, 
because  they  presented  fewest  difficulties.  To  avoid  the 
difference  in  valuation  in  1913  and  1914,  and  the  difference 
caused  by  workmen  exchanging  one  kind  of  work  for 
another,  the  second  investigation,  unlike  the  first,  did 
not  deal  with  the  whole  mass  of  workmen,  but  confined 
itself  to  a  selected  group.  In  each  separate  case  the  mill- 
owners  chose  a  group  of  workmen  on  the  following  con- 
ditions :  (1)  That  they  had  worked  during  the  period 
August-October  in  both  1913  and  1914  ;  (2)  that  they 
had  been  paid  piece-work  wages  on  the  same  scale  in 
both  periods  ;  (3)  only  those  workmen  were  selected  who 
had  done  (in  both  periods)  the  same  kind  of  work  with 
the  same  material  and  machines.  Such  selection  was 
bound  to  give  better  results,  but  in  some  instances 
extreme  cases  were  cited,  i.e.  workmen  with  no  non- 
appearances both  in  1913  and  1914,  or  workmen  who 
were  the  worst  drunkards. 

The  number  of  workers  taken  into  account  by  the 
second  investigation  was  3358,  of  whom  2646  were  men 
and  712  women.  Answers  were  received  from  88  factories 
with  158,782  workers. 

The  questions  put  by  the  second  investigation  con- 
cerned :  (1)  the  total  number  of  working  hours  put  in 
during  August,  September,  and  October  1913  and  1914, 
including  all  overtime,  and  excluding  all  non-appearances  ; 
(2)  the  total  number  of  non-appearances  during  the  same 
period,  excluding  non-appearances  due  to  mobilisation, 
strikes,  suspension  of  work,  and  leave  of  absence  ;  (3)  the 
number  of  hours  put  in  in  overtime  ;  (4)  the  sum-total 
of  piece-work  wages,  including  pay  for  overtime  work ; 
(5)  the  sum  total  of  piece-work  wages  for  overtime 
work. 

Excluding  from  the  sum -total  data  referring  to  over- 
time work,  we  get  the  following  figures  for  each  workman 
in  the  period  August-October,  1913  and  1914  : 


THE  PROHIBITION   OF  VODKA  101 

August-October, 
1913.  1914. 

Non-appearances  of  one  workman  in 

hours 32-7  14-6 

Time  actually  put  in  by  one  workman 

in  hours  (excluding  overtime)  .      637  582 

Non-appearance  in  hours  to  every  100 

hours  of  normal  working  time  (time 

actually  put  in+non-appearance)    .  4-9  2-4 

Piece-work    wages    by    the    hour    in 

kopeks 13-5  14-1 

The  great  decrease  in  non-appearances  is  very  striking 
— 55  per  cent.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  work- 
men with  a  high  record  of  non-appearances  were  chosen, 
and  so  we  clearly  see  the  effect  of  temperance  in  these 
cases. 

We  get  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  decrease  in  non- 
appearances when  we  take  the  figures  for  non-appearances 
to  every  100  hours,  which  amount  to  52  per  cent.  We 
here  recall  that  according  to  the  first  investigation  this 
decrease  was  19  per  cent.  The  result  of  such  decrease 
was  the  better  use  of  working  time,  owing  to  which  the 
productivity  of  workmen  showed  an  average  rise  of  2-6 
per  cent.  The  average  rise  in  piece-work  wages  of  each 
workman  in  1914  was  0-6  kopeks  an  hour,  or  4-4  per  cent. 

These  two  figures  of  increase  (2-6  per  cent  and  4-4  per 
cent)  enable  us  to  determine  an  increase  of  productivity 
of  labour  in  1914  for  3358  workers,  amounting  to  7  per  cent. 

If  the  statistics  are  examined  in  more  detail,  we  find 
that  the  productivity  of  male  workers  increased  8  per 
cent  in  1914.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  owing  to  the  war 
many  factories  were  on  short  time  and  that  men  were 
replaced  by  women,  the  intensity  of  labour  was  artifici- 
ally lowered,  and  therefore  we  will  further  consider  only 
male  workers  in  factories  under  normal  conditions.  In 
the  case  of  a  group  of  1505  working  men  employed  in 
normally  working  factories  during  August-October,  1914, 
it  appears  that  there  was  an  increase  of  2-9  per  cent  in  the 


102       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

better  use  of  working  time,  and  a  rise  of  6-1  per  cent  in 
piece-work  wages  per  hour.  Thus  the  productivity  of 
these  workmen  increased  9  per  cent  after  the  prohibition. 
To  determine  the  increase  of  intensity  of  labour,  we 
must  take  a  group  of  workmen  with  an  average  number 
of  non-appearances  before  the  prohibition.  The  second 
investigation  provides  material  for  ascertaining  the  con- 
nection between  intensity  of  labour  and  the  number  of 
non-appearances.  For  this  purpose  all  the  workers  were 
divided  into  four  groups,  according  to  the  number  of 
non-appearances  for  each  workman  in  1913. 

Group  I  comprised  workmen  without  non-appearances 
during  August-October,  1913. 

Group  II  comprised  workmen  having  from  1  to  30 
hours  of  non-appearances  during  the  same  period. 

Group  III  comprised  workmen  with  from  31  to  100 
hours  of  non-appearance.    And  lastly, 

Group  IV  comprised  workmen  with  over  100  hours  of 
non-appearance. 

For  each  group  the  average  piece-work  pay  per  hour 
and  the  average  number  of  non-appearances  for  each 
workman  were  calculated.  All  these  data  refer  to  the 
same  3358  workmen  dealt  with  in  the  investigation. 

August-October  1913.  August-October,  1914. 

Average  number    Average  Average  number        Average 

Groups  of     Number  of    of  non-appear-     wages  in  of  non-appear-         wages  in 

workmen.      workmen,     ances  in  hours,      kopeks,  ances  in  hours.i        kopeks. 


I 

1195 

— 

12-9 

5-9 

13-4 

II 

1104 

14-0 

13-3 

11-7 

13-9 

III 

774 

571 

13-9 

23-8 

14-8 

IV 

285 

175-9 

150 

34-2 

15-3 

This  table  shows  us  the  absolute  increase  of  intensity 
of  labour  for  all  the  groups  in  1914.     The  average  rise 

1  The  fact  that  non-appearances  are  recorded  in  1914  in  Group  I 
which  had  none  in  1913,  can  be  simply  explained  by  illness.  Their 
average  number  of  non-appearances  differs  but  little  from  that  of  all 
workers  in  1914. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  103 

of  wages  per  hour  was  0-5  kop.,  0-6  kop.,  0-9  kop.,  and 
0-3  kop.,  respectively.  We  can  also  see  an  increase  of  the 
average  piece-work  pay  per  hour  in  the  groups  with 
higher  average  of  non-appearances  in  1913  and  1914. 
Further,  these  workmen  who  suffered  most  from  intem- 
perance benefited  most  from  the  prohibition.  The  non- 
appearances of  the  slackest  workmen  decreased  as 
follows  :  in  textile  factories  from  an  average  of  159-7 
hours  for  each  workman  during  three  months  to  an  average 
of  11-0  hours  ;  in  metal  foundries  from  172-1  hours  to 
63-1  hours. 

Owing  to  prohibition  many  workmen  wasted  less  of 
their  working  time  and  took  almost  full  advantage  of  it. 
We  may  even  suppose  that  the  rise  in  wages  due  to  longer 
working  time  was  so  considerable  that  workmen  did  not 
consider  it  necessary  to  increase  their  intensity  of  labour. 
Perhaps  they  reserved  their  strength  purposely,  content- 
ing themselves  with  the  increase  of  wages  due  to  decrease 
of  non-appearances.  This  is  often  seen  in  mills  and 
factories,  especially  among  those  who  receive  low  wages. 
If  our  supposition  holds  good,  then  we  must  admit 
that  among  Russian  workmen  there  are  great  latent 
productive  powers  which  temperance  has  set  free — 
powers  which  Russia  will  make  use  of  when  the  war  is 
over. 

We  may  now  attempt  to  determine  the  average  in- 
crease of  labour  intensity,  applicable  to  the  average  man, 
working  under  normal  conditions.  From  the  data  of  the 
first  investigation  we  learn  that  the  average  of  non- 
appearances during  three  months  in  1913  in  textile 
factories  was  18-2  hours,  and  in  metal  foundries  29-3 
hours.  If  we  calculate  the  average  of  non-appearances 
for  the  workmen  of  the  first  three  groups  dealt  with  in 
the  second  investigation,  who  worked  under  normal 
conditions  in  1914,  we  find  that  their  former  average  for 
the  same  period  and  the  same  year  1913  was  17-3  hours 
in  the  case  of  textile  operatives,  and  28-1  hours  in  the 


104       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

case  of  foundry  men.  The  very  slight  difference  in  the 
averages  is  not  accidental,  but  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
workmen  of  Group  IV,  as  the  heaviest  drinkers,  were  not 
included.  Therefore  the  average  of  non-appearances  of 
the  first  three  groups  is  at  the  same  time  the  average  of 
the  average  workman.  If  this  is  the  case,  then  the  in- 
crease of  average  piece-work  wages  of  these  three  groups 
shows  likewise  the  average  increase  of  labour  intensity 
and  also  for  the  average  workman. 

Average  piece-work  pay    J"™^^ 
per  hour  in  kopeks.  ^W  ta?E£nte£. 

1913.  1914 

Textile-workers  (730)        .     11-6  11-96  3-1% 

Metal-workers  (497)  .     22-14         24-14  9-0% 

According  to  data  of  the  first  investigation  the  follow- 
ing figures  show  what  use  workmen  made  of  normal 
working  time  in  factories  working  normally  both  in  1913 
and  1914  : 

TEXTILE   WORKERS.  1913.  1914. 

Normal  working  time           ....  662  641 

Non-appearances  in  hours  for  one  workman  .  17-1  13-4 
Non-appearances  to  every  100  hours  of  normal 

working  time  ......  2-6  2-1 

METAL  WORKERS. 

Normal  working  time  . 

Non-appearances  for  one  workman 
Non-appearances  to  every  100  hours 

Thus  we  see  that  the  increase  of  productivity  among 
textile  workers  (due  to  lengthening  of  working  time)  was 
0-5  per  cent,  and  among  metal  workers  was  2-1  per  cent. 
Therefore,  in  normal  conditions,  the  average  general 
increase  of  productivity  of  labour  among  textile  work- 
men is  3-6  per  cent,  and  among  metal  workers  11-1  per 
cent.  Such  is  the  conclusion  arrived  at  from  the  second 
investigation  with  respect  to  temperance  among  workmen. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  prohibition  made  very  little 
difference  to  the  labour  intensity  of  women.     In  some 


1913. 

1914. 

703 

709 

29-8 

14-8 

4-2 

21 

THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  105 

cases  there  was  even  a  decrease,  which,  as  was  very  well 
explained  in  one  of  the  reports,  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
women  were  unable  to  concentrate  their  minds  on  their 
work  because  of  their  anxiety  for  those  at  the  front. 

(d) 

It  may  be  safely  argued  that  should  temperance  con- 
tinue to  be  enforced  after  the  war,  it  will  give  a  great 
impetus  to  the  development  of  the  productive  powers 
of  Russia,  and  this  is  further  borne  out  by  the  supple- 
mentary reports  often  added  by  the  manufacturers  con- 
cerning the  general  influence  of  temperance  on  the  labour- 
power,  health,  and  life  of  the  workmen.  These  reports  are, 
perhaps,  of  even  greater  importance  than  dry  statistics 
of  non-appearances,  accidents,  etc.,  for  they  are  the 
testimony  of  those  who  have  themselves  witnessed  the 
great  change  which  temperance  has  produced  in  the  life 
of  workmen.  Therefore  we  add  extracts  from  some  of  the 
most  interesting  reports  received.  These  may  be  divided 
into  two  groups,  the  first  of  which  bears  on  the  labour- 
power  of  the  workmen. 

"  The  abolition  of  the  sale  of  strong  drink  produced  a 
great  decrease  in  the  number  of  non-appearances  among 
those  who  used  to  drink  heavily.  These  workmen  express 
their  joy  over  the  abolition,  and  fear  lest  the  sale  of  drink 
should  be  reintroduced."  (Mindovsky  and  Bakakin, 
Kinyeshma,  Kostroma  Government.) 

"  With  prohibition  the  wages  of  workmen,  at  the 
same  valuation,  increased.  Workmen  show  greater  dili- 
gence."    (Gorbunov  Brothers,  Ladigino). 

"  With  prohibition  the  productivity  of  workmen  has 
increased  considerably,  which  is  proof  of  the  good  effects 
of  temperance.  Fines  for  spoilt  materials,  non-appear- 
ances, and  disorderly  conduct  reach  the  minimum." 
(Government  of  Tver.) 

"  In  calculating  the  wages  of  workmen,  we  find  an 
increase  of  20-25  per  cent  as  compared  with  the  period 


106       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

before  the  prohibition,  and  this,  of  course,  is  wholly  due 
to  temperance."      (Moscow  firm). 

"  In  dealing  with  the  question  of  prohibition,  we  find 
that  the  abolition  of  the  drink  monopoly  raised  the  work- 
men's budget,  decreased  the  number  of  non-appearances, 
heightened  the  quality  of  work,  and  in  general  brought 
about  an  increase  of  productivity."    (Moscow  firm.) 

"  In  view  of  the  fact  that  only  women  are  employed  in 
our  factory,  the  evils  of  drink  were  not  felt  by  us."  (Silk 
cord  factory  near  Moscow.) 

"  Since  the  prohibition  absence  from  work  and  non- 
appearances have  decreased  considerably  ;  piece-workers 
earn  higher  wages,  and  those  who  receive  monthly  or 
daily  payment  show  far  greater  productivity  and 
accuracy.  With  the  sale  of  denaturalised  spirit  work- 
men have  begun  to  mix  it  with  cider  and  other 
beverages,  which  is  most  injurious  to  health  and  detri- 
mental to  their  work."  (Cloth  mill  in  Moscow  Govern- 
ment.) 

"  Non-appearances,  excepting  such  as  were  caused  by 
strikes  and  mobilisation,  showed  a  general  decrease  of 
30  per  cent  in  1914  as  compared  with  1913,  and  after 
holidays  a  decrease  of  50  per  cent  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  workmen.  After  the  prohibition  a  great  in- 
crease of  productivity  was  noticeable."  (Cotton-dyeing 
factory  in  Moscow.) 

"  The  prohibition  has  had  a  good  effect  upon  the  pro- 
ductivity of  workmen  ;  there  is  a  decrease  in  non-appear- 
ances, and  cases  of  disorderly  conduct  occur  less  fre- 
quently. The  figures  of  the  investigations,  however,  do 
not  prove  this,  as  owing  to  the  nature  of  our  industry, 
work  passes  from  hand  to  hand,  and  many  new  workers 
who  were  employed  after  the  mobilisation  have  not  yet 
got  into  the  way  of  things  and  thereby  hinder  the  old 
experienced  workers  and  unfavourably  affect  the  earn- 
ings of  others."    (Gerhardy's  Thread-mill,  Smolensk.) 

"  Since  the  prohibition  there  is  a  considerable  increase 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  107 

of  productivity  and  a  decrease  of  illness."  (Tannery  near 
Moscow.) 

"  On  the  whole  the  prohibition  has  brought  about  an 
increase  of  productivity,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  our 
working  hours  have  been  reduced  from  10  to  5|  hours  no 
great  material  loss  is  felt,  as  would  otherwise  have  been 
the  case."    (Wool-weaving  Factory,  Moscow.) 

"  Non-appearances  of  men  have  ceased  after  holidays 
and  pay-days.  Labour-power  has  increased  both  in 
quality  and  quantity."    (Machine-embroiderers,  Moscow.) 

"  Labour  productivity,  since  the  prohibition,  has 
increased  about  one -sixth  as  compared  with  the  standard 
of  previous  years."  (The  International  Society  of  Sleep  - 
ing-Cars,  Moscow.) 

"  Owing  to  the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  vodka  and 
beer,  the  labour  productivity  of  our  workmen  shows 
an  increase  of  20-25  per  cent."  (Cast-iron  and  Moulding 
Foundry  in  the  Government  of  Kaluga.) 

"  Before  the  prohibition  there  were  artisans  who,  in 
the  course  of  a  winter,  had  2-3  non-appearances  ;  there 
were  even  some  who  after  every  pay-day,  i.e.  the  1st 
and  15th  of  the  month,  absented  themselves  for  two  or 
three  days,  or  even  a  week.  This,  of  course,  had  injurious 
effects  on  their  pecuniary  and  domestic  circumstances, 
and  it  was  often  necessary  to  give  them  money  in  ad- 
vance. Since  the  prohibition,  however,  there  has  not 
been  a  single  non-appearance  ;  besides,  those  who  were 
formerly  addicted  to  drink  have  greatly  improved  in 
health,  and  they  are  able  to  do  more  and  better  work 
within  a  shorter  time."  (Gorojankine,  Umbrella 
Makers,  Moscow.) 

"  Formerly  about  one-third  of  our  workmen  had  to  get 
money  in  advance  five  or  six  days  after  pay-day,  but 
since  the  closing  of  vodka  shops  this  is  of  the  rarest 
occurrence."    (Zaitchenkoff's  Saw-mill.) 

"  During  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  non-appear- 
ances were  of  frequent  occurrence.    Some  workmen  did 


108       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

not  put  in  an  appearance  till  two  days  after  pay-day ;  they 
seldom  worked  the  day  after  a  holiday.  Sometimes  they 
stopped  working  one  or  two  days  before  big  church 
holidays,  celebrated  them  at  least  three  days,  and  it 
generally  took  them  other  two  days  to  get  over  it  all. 
At  other  times  non-appearances  due  to  intemperance 
were  not  of  rare  occurrence  ;  weddings,  funerals,  etc., 
also  served  as  pretext  for  a  week's  non-appearance  ;  with 
prohibition  all  this  stopped.  Workmen  began  to  regard 
their  work  more  seriously,  their  productivity  increased, 
they  set  store  by  every  hour  of  their  time  and  leave  their 
work  only  in  cases  of  dire  necessity.  We  can  say  in  general 
that  the  results  of  prohibition  are  of  the  best,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  this  prohibition  will  be  permanent." 
(Shipbuilding  yards  on  the  river  Klyasm.) 

The  second  group  of  reports  deals  with  the  effects  of 
prohibition  on  the  life  of  the  workers.  From  them  we 
see  that  prohibition  has  entirely  reformed  the  working- 
class.  Hooliganism,  roughness,  disorderly  conduct,  rude- 
ness, late-coming — all  this  is  practically  disappearing,  as 
can  be  gathered  from  the  statistics  of  the  investigation 
concerning  fines  : 

August-October. 

Coming   late,   non-appearance,   dis-  1913.  1914. 

orderly  conduct,  drunkenness,  etc.     248  rubles     109  rubles 

In  1914  cases  of  disorderly  conduct  due  to  drunken- 
ness, as  we  see  from  the  fines,  decreased  more  than  56  per 
cent. 

Workmen  who  were  formerly  the  heaviest  drunkards 
are  now  equal  to  the  best.  Their  conduct  leaves  nothing 
to  be  desired  ;  they  have  no  craving  for  varnish,  polish, 
or  any  other  stimulant ;  they  are  all  clean  and  well- 
dressed.    The  actual  reports  notify  as  follows  : 

"  Permanent  prohibition,  in  normal  conditions,  will 
create  sensible,  well-to-do  workmen,  who  will  be  a  boon 
to  the  Empire,  to  the  home,  and  to  our  industry." 
(Baline  &  Co.,  Spinning  Mills,  Vladimir  Government.) 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  109 

"  While  sending  you  our  investigation  papers  with 
statistics  of  the  harm  drink  does  to  industry,  we  would 
likewise  call  your  attention  to  the  extent  of  the  evil  of 
intemperance  as  seen  in  the  life  of  workmen,  namely,  the 
awful  sufferings  of  their  families.  .  .  .  The  material  well- 
being  of  the  workmen  has  improved  considerably,  but 
the  greatest  difference  is  felt  in  the  home-life.  Formerly 
in  the  days  of  intemperance  80  per  cent  of  the  workmen 
looked  dazed  and  went  about  in  a  kind  of  stupor.  Con- 
stant drinking  had  a  bad  influence  on  their  moral  char- 
acter :  their  homes  lost  all  homeliness  and  were  turned 
into  centres  of  infection  and  misery.  We  could  point 
out  instances  where  the  parents  carried  off  everything 
to  the  public -house.  This  great  scourge  was  felt  most  by 
the  children.  These  poor  little  things  were  crowded 
together  in  cold  damp  houses  underground,  whilst  star- 
vation and  other  unfavourable  circumstances  made  them 
grow  up  into  weak,  delicate,  and  prematurely  embittered 
men  and  women.  Now  many  workers  have  been  able  to 
add  to  their  home  comforts  :  their  fuller  earnings  enable 
them  to  take  better  rooms,  and  to  buy  better  food  and 
clothing."  (Wool-spinning  Factory  of  F.  Dufurmantel, 
Moscow.) 

"  Misunderstandings  and  disagreement  between  workers 
and  mill-managers  are  now  almost  unheard  of.  Labour- 
power  and  productivity  have  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  we  would  welcome  the  continuation  of  pro- 
hibition after  the  war."  (Mechanical  Foundry,  L.  Plo. 
Moscow.) 

"  Since  prohibition  there  is  a  greater  output  of  work, 
and  goods  of  better  quality  are  produced  ;  accidents 
occur  less  frequently.  Those  in  charge  no  longer  bring 
forward  complaints  against  the  workmen,  and  hooliganism, 
bad  language,  and  disorderly  conduct  are  things  of  the 
past."    (Shawl  Factory,  Moscow.) 

"  In  the  absence  of  vodka,  productivity  has  increased 
25  per  cent.    Without  vodka,  the  workers  have  become 


110       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

more  like  human  beings.  There  are  no  more  so-called 
'  Mondays  '  and  '  Tuesdays  '  ;  conscience  is  awakened, — 
people  are  ashamed  to  be  bad  workers,  and  it  is  now 
possible  to  live  and  work  with  them.  When  vodka  was 
consumed  we  were  forced  to  have  as  little  as  possible  to 
do  with  our  own  workmen,  and  had  to  buy  goods  partly 
from  other  firms,  but  mostly  from  foreign  markets. 
Should  vodka  be  reintroduced,  we  shall  again  be  obliged 
to  sell  other  people's,  or  foreign,  goods."  (Balakine's 
Factory,  Moscow.) 

"  The  abolition  of  strong  drink  has  produced  a  very 
favourable  effect  both  on  labour  and  productivity,  and 
on  the  moral  conduct  of  the  workmen,  and  we  hope  to 
see  this  state  of  things  continued  in  the  future."  (Paper 
Mill,  Vladimir  Government). 

"  Intensity  of  labour  has  increased  considerably.  In 
connection  with  current  events,  working  time  and  wages 
in  consequence  have  been  reduced,  but  owing  to  the 
absence  of  vodka  there  is  no  great  difference  in  the  work- 
man's budget.  The  usual  non-appearance  after  pay- 
days, with  all  their  consequences,  are  not  noticeable,  and 
this  improves  the  morals,  the  health,  the  home  life,  and 
the  labour  powers  of  the  workmen."  (Print-dye  Works, 
Moscow.) 

"  There  is  a  marked  improvement  in  the  work  produced; 
workmen  show  greater  diligence,  and  quarrelling  and 
fighting  are  at  an  end."     (Moscow  District). 

"  Relying  on  general  observations  and  separate 
impressions,  we  consider  it  our  duty  to  point  out  the 
undoubted  and  great  benefit  temperance  has  been  to 
the  life  and  work  of  our  employes.  The  firm  establish- 
ment of  such  a  condition  of  things  ought  to  be  one 
of  the  principal  tasks  of  our  time."  (Tea  Merchants, 
Moscow.) 

"  There  are  now  scarcely  any  misunderstandings  be- 
tween administrators  and  workers.  There  are  no  quarrels 
nor   bad   language.     In   address   workmen   are   always 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  111 

polite.  Not  one,  no,  not  even  the  worst  drunkard, 
expresses  regret  at  the  prohibition  :  all  are  pleased,  and 
as  for  the  women,  they  are  simply  delighted."  (Krasil- 
shikoff  and  Co.,  Kostroma). 

"  The  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  strong  drink  has  had 
good  effects  on  the  conduct  of  workmen  both  during 
working  hours  and  when  off  work.  Non-appearances 
have  decreased,  especially  on  pay-days  and  the  days 
following.  Workmen  show  greater  mental  equilibrium. 
Quarrels  in  dwelling-houses  have  altogether  disappeared, 
and  so  have  family  squabbles.  Policemen  make  fewer 
arrests.  Doctors  are  no  longer  called  upon  to  attend 
cases  of  sickness  due  to  drunkenness.  Fires  in  neighbour- 
ing villages  occur  less  frequently."  (Cotton -weaving  and 
Spinning  Mills.) 

"  Since  the  Government  put  a  stop  to  the  sale  of  drink 
there  has  been  exemplary  order  in  our  factory,  and  all 
the  workmen  express  satisfaction.  There  is  no  fighting, 
no  disorderly  conduct."  (Paper-mill  in  the  Vladimir 
Government.) 

"  The  good  effects  of  prohibition  are  clearly  seen. 
Workmen  are  more  punctual,  and  non-appearances  after 
holidays  have  entirely  disappeared  ;  earnings  are  higher. 
Workmen  are  now  well-dressed,  well-shod,  and  are  able 
to  send  more  to  their  homes  in  the  villages  or  take  part 
of  their  earnings  to  the  savings-bank.  Since  the  prohibi- 
tion there  have  been  no  cases  of  non-appearances,  of  ill- 
ness, of  slight  and  serious  injuries,  and  earnings  have  so 
far  increased  25  per  cent."    (Wood  Works,  Moscow.) 

The  above  are  samples  from  the  reports  of  many  fac- 
tories and  foundries  in  the  Moscow  District  engaged  in 
various  industries,  including  the  smaller  factories  where 
patriarchal  relations  exist  between  owners  and  workers, 
as  also  those  larger  factories  which  give  employment  to 
thousands.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  add  anything  to  the 
picture  thus  described. 

The  study  concludes  in  this  strain.     "  A  few  months 


112       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

ago,  when  the  Society  was  engaged  in  the  investigation 
of  drunkenness,  no  one  thought  with  certainty  that  pro- 
hibition would  last  any  length  of  time,  or  felt  sure  that 
no  exceptions  would  be  made.  This  uncertainty  is 
traceable  in  some  of  the  reports.  But  now,  when  almost 
a  whole  year  has  passed  since  temperance  was  enforced, 
we  may  firmly  trust  that  the  prohibition  will  last  on  into 
the  future,  and  will  cause  the  labour  of  the  Russian 
people  to  develop  and  thrive." 


IV 

FROM  THE  PHYSICIAN'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 
AND  THAT  OF  THE  FUTURE 

AN  experiment  so  directly  affecting  public  health 
-XTjL  could  not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  physicians 
and  surgeons  throughout  the  area  covered  by  it.  In 
particular,  Dr.  Alexander  L.  Mendelson,  of  Petrograd,  a 
distinguished  neurologist  and  member  of  the  Petrograd 
Town  Council,  has  investigated  the  matter  in  very  many 
of  its  aspects.  His  results  were  communicated  in  a  report 
made  to  the  Russian  Society  for  the  Preservation  of 
National  Health  in  March,  1915.  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  discussing  his  conclusions  with  him,  and  am  able  to 
present  the  most  striking  of  them,  along  with  data  col- 
lected by  him  subsequent  to  the  delivery  of  the  paper. 

The  results  of  the  prohibition  of  vodka  in  Petrograd 
were  immediately  seen  in  a  very  sharp  decline  in  the 
number  of  arrests  for  drunkenness.  These  are  best  in- 
dicated by  contrasting  periods  of  a  half-year,  thus  : 


'irst  half-year. 

710. 

Second  half-year. 

1 

First  half-year. 

Second  half-year. 

30,510 

33,830 

29,461 

12,242 

If  we  take  a  single  district  in  the  city  during  1914, 
and  watch  the  arrests  by  the  month,  the  following 
descending  scale  is  obtained  : 


May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

917 

666 

474 

123 

100 

71 

56 

31 

These  figures  indicate  arrests  simply  for  drunkenness  ; 
in  Russia  punishment  would  not  follow  for  drunkenness 

i  113 


114       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

alone  unless  the  prisoner  had  proved  disorderly.  In  view 
of  these  remarkable  decreases,  it  was  no  surprise  to  learn 
that  hardly  any  pledges  were  now  being  taken  at  the 
Temperance  Church  near  the  Warsaw  Station. 

The  next  series  of  statistics  relates  to  the  Obukhov  City 
Hospital,  which  has  special  wards  for  the  care  of  cases 
of  serious  alcoholic  poisoning  such  as  are  handed  over 
by  the  police  for  treatment.  The  number  of  deaths  was 
as  follows  : 


1914. 

1915. 

July. 

August. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

March. 

52 

25 

27 

29 

33 

46 

56 

53 

36 

It  will  be  noticed  that  there  was  a  sharp  decrease  in 
the  initial  months  of  the  war,  but  that  the  higher  rates 
again  asserted  themselves  ;  they  mean,  in  fact,  a  higher 
death-rate  for  a  smaller  number  of  drinkers.  The  anomaly 
is,  of  course,  explained  by  the  character  of  the  substitutes 
used.  Kvass,  with  its  £  per  cent  of  alcohol,  was  mixed 
with  methylated  spirits,  or  the  latter  were  swallowed 
"  neat."  Now,  while  vodka  has  40  per  cent  of  alcohol 
(and  in  1910  some  three  million  vedros1  of  vodka  were 
consumed  in  Petrograd  alone),  this  "  denatured  "  spirit 
has  an  alcohol  percentage  of  93.  Accordingly  any 
marked  increase  in  its  consumption  is  bound  to  have 
very  serious  effects.  The  extent  of  the  evil  may  be  gauged 
by  the  following  figures,  showing  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  vedros  sold  during  the  first  three  months  of 
the  years  in  question,  the  principal  use  being,  however, 
for  burning  purposes. 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

103,447  112,524  170,221 

The  sale  of  "  denatured  "  spirit  is  now  under  very  strict 
control.  "  Politura,"  which,  when  mixed  with  shellac, 
gives  a  varnish,  can  only  now  be  sold  under  licence. 

1  1  vedro  —  2-7  gallons. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  115 

A  third  series  of  statistics  shows  the  effect  of  pro- 
hibition on  cases  of  mental  derangement  directly  due  to 
alcoholic  causes.  In  the  Obukhov  Hospital  the  number 
of  cases  for  the  first  three  months  of  the  years  1913,  1914, 
1915  was  114,  117,  and  67  respectively.  The  death  rates 
were  7,  6,  and  9  per  cent  respectively,  the  last  highest 
rate  being  due  to  the  harder  drinking  of  poisonous  sub- 
stitutes. The  statistics  for  all  mental  cases  for  the  whole 
city  (30  per  cent  of  them  being  due  to  alcohol)  was  998 
for  the  last  six  months  of  1913,  and  794  for  the  corre- 
sponding period  in  1914.  Of  traumatic  cases  taken  to 
hospital,  most  of  them  drunken,  the  figures  for  the  five 
months  July  to  November,  1913,  were  710  ;  the  follow- 
ing year,  for  the  corresponding  period,  they  had  fallen 
to  237.  If  we  take  the  month  of  August  alone  in  these 
two  years,  the  corresponding  figures  were  181  as  against 
30.  Methyl  alcohol,  as  is  well  known,  especially  affects 
the  optic  nerves  very  profoundly,  and  may  be  a  direct 
cause  of  actual  blindness.  In  the  Eye  Hospital  in  Petro- 
grad  there  were  treated  72  cases  with  impaired  vision 
due  to  this  specific  cause  from  July,  1914,  to  April,  1915, 
eight  of  whom  had  become  blind.  Previously  such  cases 
were  absolutely  insignificant  in  number. 

Another  series  of  statistics  bore  on  the  suicide  rate  in 
Petrograd,  limited  in  the  first  instance  to  poison  cases  (as 
by  acetic  acid,  etc.)  brought  to  the  Obukhov  Hospital. 
Of  such,  during  the  five  months  July  to  December,  1913, 
there  were  97  cases  :  for  the  corresponding  period  in 
1914  there  were  only  16  cases.  A  larger  series  relates 
to  the  total  number  of  deaths  by  suicide  in  every  form 
in  Petrograd.    They  are  as  follows  for  the  year  1914  : 

MEN.  WOMEN. 

First  half-year.        Second  half-year.         First  half-year.        Second  half-year. 

202  79  123  95 

For  the  city  of  Warsaw  the  total  number  of  suicides 
and  attempts  at  suicide  for  both  sexes  during  the  first 


116       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

half  of  1914  was  442  :  for  the  second  half  of  the  year 
the  total  was  229. 

The  same  general  conclusions  have  likewise  been 
reached  by  other  medical  men  and  statisticians.  Thus 
Professor  Bekhteriev  notices  a  general  diminution  in 
insanity,  criminal  cases  and  prostitution,  and  a  court 
physician  reports  that  cases  of  insanity  have  markedly 
diminished  during  the  war.  Amongst  the  troops  there  is 
only  0-2-0"  25  per  cent  per  thousand,  whilst  during  the 
Japanese  War  the  rate  was  very  high. 

Dr.  Mendelson  has  further  included  statistics  dealing 
with  other  aspects  of  the  question  than  those  that  are 
purely  medical.  The  reduction  in  the  number  of  small 
loans  (one  to  five  rubles) — mostly  on  clothing — made  by 
the  pawnshops  in  Petrograd  is  shown  by  these  figures 
for  the  second  half-year  in  either  case  :  1913,  177,585  ; 
and  1914,  113,306. 

The  increases  in  the  deposits  in  the  Imperial  Savings 
Banks  were  as  follows  for  all  Russia,  in  millions  of  rubles  : 
for  July,  1914,  the  figure  was  41*1  less  than  in  the  previous 
year,  but  for  the  succeeding  months  to  the  end  of  the 
year,  the  figures  show  these  progressive  increases,  August 
10-1,  September  258,  October  21-7,  November  24-8, 
December  35-2.  These  increases  have  been  more  than 
maintained  into  1915  where  the  total  figures  of  difference 
in  millions  of  rubles  compared  with  those  for  the  previous 
two  years  are  as  follows  for  ten  months  in  each  case  : 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

+32-8  +35-3  +499-1 

For  Petrograd  alone  the  corresponding  figures  for  the 
first  three  months  were  : 

1913.  1914.  1915. 

+2-1  +0-8  +12-3 

And  for  Moscow  : 

1918.  1914.  1916. 

+  1-8  +1-7  +8-0 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  117 

All  these  figures  are  official.  For  the  first  five  months 
of  1915  the  total  savings  represent  a  gain  of  260  million 
rubles.  These  are  savings  from  drink  and  the  allowances 
payable  to  the  wives  of  soldiers,  but  they  do  not  represent 
the  absolute  savings,  because  these  are  partly  expressed 
in  better  clothing  and  better  feeding.  When  we  consider 
that  some  840  million  rubles  were  spent  on  vodka  in 
1914,  and  that  the  Government  was  counting  on  that 
figure  rising  to  900  millions  in  1915,  we  can  realise  what 
an  economic  transformation  must  have  taken  place  in 
the  country. 

The  actual  cost  of  making  a  vedro  of  vodka  was 
80  kopeks,  but  additional  rectification,  transport,  and 
selling  charges  made  the  selling  price  of  the  distiller  to 
the  Government  2  rubles  a  vedro.  This  the  Government 
retailed  at  8  rubles  40  kopeks.  On  beer  not  over  3*6 
alcoholic  strength,  the  tax  before  the  war  was  1  ruble 
60  kopeks  per  vedro,  paid  by  the  producer.  Now  it  is 
6  and  9  rubles  according  to  the  strength  of  the  beer.  If 
the  strength  is  not  over  36  alcohol,  the  tax  is  6  rubles  ; 
if  above,  the  tax  is  9  rubles.  Further,  if  the  production 
of  the  brewery  is  not  more  than  2000  vedros  annually, 
the  tax  is  only  3  rubles. 

In  any  attempt  to  forecast  the  future  a  great  number 
of  considerations  has  to  be  taken  into  account.  The 
permanent  prohibition  of  vodka  is  generally  assumed  to 
be  bound  up  with  promises  of  the  Emperor  to  that  effect.1 
So  far  as  any  indications  go,  this  would  be  in  accordance 
with  the  desire  of  the  great  majority  of  the  nation  to-day. 
When  we  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  continued 
prohibition  of  wine  and  beer  the  difference  of  opinion  is 
much  more  marked,  as  indeed  is  expressed  in  the  varying 
decisions  of  the  different  municipalities2  with  regard  to 

1  Conveyed  in  a  rescript  to  the  late  Grand  Duke  Constantine 
and  in  a  dispatch  to  the  Minister  of  Finance. 

2  e.g.  Odessa  and  Kharkhov  permit  the  sale  of  wine  and  beer, 
Petrograd  and  Moscow  do  not. 


118       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

their  sale  at  present.  "  What  I  have  seen  of  the  advant- 
ages of  prohibition,"  said  the  Professor  of  Economics 
already  referred  to,1  "  has  brought  me  to  believe  in  the 
absolute  restriction  of  beer  as  well  as  vodka.  To  fight 
the  intoxication  produced  by  beer  is  ten  times  as  difficult 
as  the  fight  against  intoxication  by  vodka.  Beer  intoxica- 
tion is  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  intoxication  in  the  world. 
If  we  can  arrange  that  for  twenty  or  twenty-five  years 
the  population  will  not  have  the  opportunity  to  drink, 
then  the  question  is  solved.  If  we  can  do  that — and  I 
am  not  unhopeful — Russia  will  be  saved.  But  if  the 
liquor  interests  prove  too  strong,  then  the  outlook  is 
dark  for  Russia."  As  yet,  however,  no  very  clear  idea 
has  been  formed  on  the  subject  of  the  prohibition  of  beer 
after  the  war.  There  is  a  tendency  in  some  directions 
to  work  in  the  direction  of  increasing  the  use  of  light 
beers  after  the  war.  Even  if  this  is  approved,  the  price 
will  probably  be  raised  as  also  the  tax.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  a  fear  that  to  permit  the  continuance  of 
even  really  light  beer  is  to  countenance  a  situation  which 
will  be  difficult  to  control.  There  are  only  some  two 
hundred  million  rubles  of  capital  sunk  in  Russian  brew- 
eries, so  that  the  trade  can  be  easily  bought  out.  The 
question  of  the  continuance  of  beer  is  then  still  very 
open.  The  question  of  the  continued  prohibition  of  wine  is 
more  complicated  because  of  importation.  Further,  there 
are  wine-raising  districts  in  Russia,  e.g.  Bessarabia,  the 
Crimea,  and  Caucasus.  The  wine-growers  in  the  Crimea 
are  wealthy  ;  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  carry  on  the 
industry  in  the  other  districts  are  mainly  small  proprietors, 
so  that  to  prohibit  the  culture  of  wine  would  involve 
them  in  ruin.  It  is  probable  therefore  that  the  wine 
industry  will  continue  as  formerly,  though  possibly  under 
some  restrictions. 

From    one   little  village    known   to   me  the    annual 
revenue  from   vodka  was   80,000   rubles.       When    the 

1  p.  43. 


THE  PROHIBITION  OF  VODKA  119 

peasants  under  the  statute  of  March,  1914,  received  again 
the  power  of  local  option,  the  decision  was  taken  to  have 
the  shop  closed.  Nobody  opposed  the  decision  because 
in  their  hearts  the  peasants  seemed  to  understand  that 
vodka  was  a  bad  thing,  and  that  they  really  did  not  need 
it ;  in  the  words  of  one  of  them,  it  was  "  just  a  way  of 
being  happy."  It  only  requires  to  be  added  that  almost 
everything  remains  to  be  done  by  the  Zemstvos  and 
other  local  bodies  to  provide  other  saner  "ways  of  being 
happy,"  particularly  in  view  of  any  possible  temporary 
reaction  after  the  war. 


THEME   IV 

ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT 


THEME  IV 

ON   THE   GALICIAN   FRONT 

IT  is  evening,  and  the  platforms  of  the  Kiev  Station, 
now  ordinarily  in  the  quiet  possession  of  worn-out 
refugees,  become  not  merely  additionally  crowded,  but 
are  transformed  into  an  arena  of  intense  activity.  Porters 
laden  with  the  multitudinous  small  packages  of  the  aver- 
age Russian  traveller  storm  the  entries  into  the  cars  ; 
orderlies  pass  along  with  officers'  effects,  and  stand  on 
guard  at  a  coupe  for  four  which  has  been  taken  sometimes 
for  a  single  individual,  and  retained  simply  by  the  power 
of  the  tongue.  Later  the  officers  themselves  appear 
walking  leisurely,  one  with  his  wife  leaning  on  his  arm, 
another  gazing  into  the  brave  smiling  face  of  his  be- 
trothed. One  man  is  alone  save  for  the  companionship 
of  his  black  setter  dog.  The  cry  of  a  child  rises  above  the 
hurried  din,  like  the  true  expression  of  it  all, — something 
sore  at  the  heart.  The  first  bell  sounds.  The  conversa- 
tion becomes  more  rapid  in  some  cases  ;  in  others  the 
hand-grip  tightens  and  words  fail.  Then  those  who  are 
going  off  slowly  mount  the  steps  and  seek  the  windows 
of  the  corridor.  The  second  bell  strikes,  and  with  its 
sound  there  passes  a  most  exquisite  pain  into  tender 
hearts.  The  third  bell  goes  and  with  it  the  train  moves 
out.  You  seek  your  corner.  The  compartments  are 
quieter  now  ;  men  are  thinking  ;  they  are  not  talking 
so  much. 

At  Zhmerinka  two  officers  and  a  couple  of  soldiers  pass 
along  the  train  examining  permits  and  passports.  It  is 
1.30  a.m.,  and  we  begin  to  meet  trainloads  of  refugees 

123 


124       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

travelling  east.  There  is  remarkably  little  excitement 
amongst  them  or  the  many  other  people  moving  up  and 
down  the  platforms  even  at  that  late  hour,  although  all 
their  movements  are  vigorous.  Once  more  the  train 
starts  off  and  rolls  along,  swinging  from  side  to  side.  At 
last  towards  6  a.m.  we  reach  Proskurov,  where  we  wait 
a  considerable  time.  People  are  too  intent  to  look  up  at 
the  carriage  windows  as  they  move  hurriedly  by.  Several 
families  of  refugees  are  lying  about,  camping  out  on  the 
platform  for  the  present ;  but  soldiers  now  predominate. 
A  little  bright-faced  boy  in  uniform  is  evidently  the  pet 
of  one  group.  There  are  many  such  amongst  the  soldiers 
in  the  trenches  ;  they  are  found  to  be  particularly  useful 
in  carrying  ammunition  and  taking  messages  on  the 
firing  line.  Again  they  examine  for  permits  to  proceed 
to  the  front.  Still  more  mobilisation  cars  pass  eastwards, 
loaded  with  refugees. 

Morning  discloses  that  we  are  traversing  a  flattish 
country  covered  with  superlatively  rich  "  black  earth." 
It  is  evidently  divided  up  into  numerous  small  peasant 
holdings.  Every  simple  object  by  the  side  of  the  track 
takes  on  an  added  interest,  for  we  are  approaching  the 
theatre  of  war.  At  what  point  will  that  circumstance  begin 
to  be  reflected  in  the  country  side  ?  Certainly  not  as  yet. 
That  young  girl  watching  four  or  five  cows,  this  man 
cutting  corn,  a  foal  frisking  beside  its  mother  as  she 
works  in  a  plough,  the  scattered  cottages  covered  with 
thatch  peculiarly  thickened  along  the  line  of  the  roof  and 
down  the  edges  of  the  slope  to  the  eaves,  with  geese 
wandering  aimlessly  around  them,  and  the  hobbled  horses 
in  the  grass,  do  not  suggest  it  in  any  way.  There  is  no 
great  variety  in  the  landscape ;  for  the  most  part  it  is 
a  vast  level  sweep  with  splashes  of  wood  hardly  conceal- 
ing villages.  There  are  no  fences  anywhere,  but  the 
boarded  ramparts  by  the  railway  side  to  protect  it  against 
drifting  snow,  serve  to  remind  us  of  other  conditions. 
Here  patches  are  yellow  with  sunflower,  while  larger  areas 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  125 

are  under  cultivation  to  sugar,  beetroot,  or  various  grains. 
Here  windmills  dominate  the  scene  ;  there  the  land  sup- 
ports enormous  herds  of  cattle.  And  through  it  all  weave 
their  way  these  irregularly  broad  indications  of  travel 
that  correspond  to  roads. 

We  pass  troop  trains.  On  the  platforms  of  the  different 
stations,  kitchen  boilers  with  a  dozen  faucets  are  standing 
full  of  boiling  water,  labelled  "  kipyatok  gotov  "  ("  boil- 
ing water  ready  "),  where  the  soldiers  can  fill  their  tin 
or  blue-lacquered  tea-kettles  without  charge.  There  is 
also  usually  a  booth  or  covered  stall  where  peasant  women 
sell  bread  and  sausages,  gherkins,  and  cigarettes.  Near 
Wolotchisk  the  peasant  women  are  doing  very  different 
work, — constructing  trenches  to  defend  the  railway, — 
working  amidst  a  wealth  of  poppies  and  blue  cornflowers, 
white  umbellifers,  thistles,  and  dandelions.  Hillocks  of 
grain  and  monuments  composed  of  bales  of  straw  are 
piled  up  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station,  where  is  also  to  be 
seen  much  Austrian  rolling  stock  taken  over  and  re- 
specified.  Everywhere  on  the  station  buildings  are  warn- 
ings, "  Do  not  drink  fresh  water  "  ;  "  Do  not  eat  fresh 
fruit."  At  Podwolotchisk  permits  are  again  vised.  The 
atmosphere  has  changed  somewhat.  Names  and  inscrip- 
tions are  all  in  Polish  now,  and  some  of  the  buildings  have 
a  certain  Teutonic  aspect.  Many  soldiers  and  officials 
are  moving  about  the  station  :  on  every  hand  you  meet 
the  injunction  to  use  the  boiling  water  provided  gratis  at 
the  station  kitchen  boiler.  There  is  real  and  successful 
control  of  the  travelling  arrangements  in  these  unusual 
times. 

As  we  push  farther  into  Galicia,  the  landscape  becomes 
less  level,  and  the  railway  follows  a  series  of  small  physio- 
graphical  depressions.  The  country-side  has  not  a  very 
different  aspect  from  that  which  we  have  recently  left  be- 
hind. The  shocks  of  grain  while  about  half  the  size  of  the 
average  British  stack,  are  as  large  again  as  those  in  Russia. 
They  are  likewise  finished  off  as  in  Russia,  covered  over  with 


126       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

a  large  spread-out  sheaf.  For  the  rest,  all  that  one  sees  is 
just  great  ribbons  of  grain  mown  or  about  to  be  cut, 
alternating  with  strips  of  potato  or  beetroot  or  alfalfa,  or 
soil  newly  upturned  by  the  plough.  Then  a  rough  track 
or  some  green  pasture  land  intervenes,  to  be  followed  by 
another  series  of  ribbons  at  right  angles  to  the  direction 
of  the  first.  Sometimes  this  type  of  landscape  is  lost 
only  on  the  horizon  ;  at  others  it  may  be  more  quickly 
bounded  by  stretches  of  tall  birch  or  ash.  In  the  im- 
mediate foreground  the  only  moving  object  is  now  a 
gathering  machine,  driven  as  often  as  not  by  a  woman  ; 
now  it  may  merely  be  four  or  five  very  sedate  storks. 
The  actual  reaping  is  mostly  done  with  the  scythe  ; 
sometimes  women  undertake  it  simply  with  sickles.  Then 
suddenly  we  sweep  past  a  succession  of  comparatively 
recent  graves,  and  realise  for  the  first  time  that  we  are 
not  in  a  quietly  ordered  world  of  peace. 

Tarnopol,  on  the  Sereth,  is  a  town  of  considerably  over 
30,000  inhabitants,  lying  some  seventy -five  miles  eastward 
of  Lemberg  ;  half  of  the  population  are  Jews.  Here 
as  the  base  for  the  time  being,  our  train  empties  itself 
of  its  military  freight,  and  quickly  the  officers  disappear 
into  the  restaurant ;  by  one  might  have  been  seen  sitting 
his  very  intelligent  black  setter  dog.  My  friend  in  virtue 
of  his  office  of  hospital  "  intendant  "  has  been  able  to 
buy  some  bottles  of  red  wine  in  Kiev.  He  produces  one 
and  offers  a  glass  to  the  officer  sharing  the  same  table. 
"  Blagodaryu,  ya  ne  piu  "  ("  Thanks,  I  do  not  drink  ") 
is  the  firm  reply.  Outside  the  station  are  dozens  of 
telyegas  laden  with  stores,  being  got  ready  to  move  to- 
wards the  front,  a  subject  of  anxious  interest  to  crowds 
of  inquisitive  Jews.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
town  is  a  large  sheet  of  water,  not  far  removed  from  which 
are  acres  of  canvas,  whence  come  the  soldiers  who  throng 
the  streets.  Tarnopol  has,  indeed,  an  unusually  beautiful 
situation,  although  little  of  its  rare  beauty  is  in  evidence  at 
close  range.     But  from  a  certain  point  on  one  of  the 


A    PICTURE    IS    GAINED    OF   TARNOPOL. 


THE    VILLAGES    ARE    PRACTICALLY 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  127 

great  highways  which  leads  by  a  sharp  ascent  out  of  the 
town,  marked  on  the  one  side  by  a  plaintive  pede- 
stalled  Madonna  and  on  the  other  by  a  Christ  in  stone,  a 
picture  is  gained  of  Tarnopol,  its  churches  and  its  waters, 
which  must  arrest  the  incoming  traveller  as  it  breaks  on 
his  view  for  the  first  time,  or  detain  him  for  a  moment 
ere  he  turns  his  back  upon  it,  to  lose  himself  in  the 
great  billowy  lands  beyond.  For  out  into  these  the  road 
quickly  brings  him,  a  road  that  might  ordinarily  have  a 
certain  loneliness  about  it,  but  which  to-day  seems  bur- 
dened with  the  incessant  passage  of  animal  and  of  human 
life  in  a  dozen  different  guises  and  on  a  dozen  different 
missions.  Single  Cossacks  dash  along  at  the  extreme 
limit  of  their  horses'  speed.  Fodder  and  straw  are  moved 
with  toilsome  slowness  in  country  waggons  with  complain- 
ing wheels  into  the  town.  So  thorough  is  the  work  of 
these  peasants  that  it  almost  conveys  the  sense  of  a 
retiral.  Others,  again,  seem  to  be  lying  lazily  in  the 
straw  in  the  bottom  of  their  two  or  three-horsed  telyegas, 
or  going  about  their  lesser  businesses  in  the  usual  way. 
Supplies  go  forward  with  loud-tongued  insistence  by  the 
transport  men.  Towards  the  left  in  the  far  distance  are 
woods,  and  separating  us  from  them  stretches  of  land 
laid  out  in  broad  parallel  strips,  so  brightly  and  so  vari- 
ously coloured  that  it  seems  as  if  some  gigantic  patch- 
work quilt  had  been  let  down  upon  the  earth.  They  are 
bright  yellow  where  the  grain  has  been  garnered,  dark 
red  with  buckwheat,  green  under  potatoes,  black  where 
the  soil  has  been  ploughed,  a  lighter  green  where  the  grass 
is  young,  and  purple  and  red  again.  In  other  directions 
wander  immense  herds  of  cattle  and  of  horses,  tended  by 
boys  or  girls.  Then  we  come  on  men  and  women  working 
together  in  the  construction  of  trenches,  in  front  of  which 
have  been  already  placed  a  double  line  of  four  rows 
each  of  posts  with  strong  barbed- wire  entanglements. 
Some  of  these  entrenchments  are  close  to  the  chaussee ; 
others  are  disposed  at  more  distant  strategic  points,  all 


128       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

commanding  the  approach  to  Tarnopol.  The  men  and 
women  engaged  on  these  trenches  are  of  course  the  local 
peasants,  working  under  no  compulsion  whatever,  at- 
tracted by  the  daily  wage  of  1  ruble  for  men  and  46 
kopeks  for  women.  Indeed  more  apply  for  such  work 
than  the  Russian  Government  can  employ  ;  they  come 
and  make  enquiries  without  fear.  By  religion  they  are 
either  Uniat  or  Catholic.  Every  elevation  on  the  road  is 
marked  by  a  shrine  or  image,  larger  than  those  usual  in 
Italy  or  France.  The  war  has  already  passed  that  way, 
as  here  a  burnt-out  mansion,  or  there  a  ruined  mill  un- 
mistakably testifies  ;  the  villages  are  practically  intact. 

We  move  slowly  up  a  hill  by  the  broken  road,  so  slowly 
that  the  little  crimson  flag  with  its  green  square  centre 
bearing  the  number  of  our  Infantry  Division,  which 
usually  flies  boldly  from  the  bonnet  of  the  powerful  car, 
now  droops  helplessly.  But  as  we  approach  the  summit, 
it  stands  out  again,  borne  on  a  wind  that  comes  sweeping 
over  the  plains  with  a  murmur  that  seems  composite  of 
the  cries  of  those  who  have  laid  down  their  lives, — the 
soul  cries  of  the  soldier  martyrs. 

A  long  low  line  appears  on  the  road  towards  the 
horizon.  It  draws  nearer  and  nearer  and  resolves  itself 
into  "  Sanitary  Train  No.  303,"  en  route  for  Byelostok. 
A  bandaged  head,  with  a  deep  red  stain  in  the  centre  of 
the  bandage,  rises  up  out  of  one  of  the  telyegas  to  gaze 
wearily  at  the  passing  car.  Three  and  fifty  of  these 
covered  carts  and  waggons  move  past,  bearing  their 
human  pain  and  sorrow.  And  the  earth  wonders, — the 
smiling  earth,  producing  her  flowers  and  grain  on  either 
side  of  us,  as  if  nothing  had  ever  happened. 

A  new  element  intrudes  on  the  landscape.  Snuggling 
in  close  by  the  sheltering  woods  are  various  little  en- 
campments of  refugees.  They  have  been  there  some  two 
months  now,  originally  shepherded  thither  by  Cossacks. 
As  yet  they  have  no  light  upon  the  future.  Farther  on 
they  have  camped  out  on  the  open  plain,  superlatively 


SANITARY    TRAIN     No.    303. 


LITTLE    ENCAMPMENTS    OF    REFUGEES. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  129 

patient  and  enduring.  But  the  darkness  begins  to 
descend,  and  we  have  still  many  versts  to  go.  The 
fluttering  flag  startles  the  horses  in  an  approaching 
brougham,  and  as  neatly  as  if  it  were  a  practised  art,  the 
whole  conveyance  turns  over  on  its  side  in  the  ditch  by 
the  side  of  the  road.  A  lady  steps  out  alone  and  unat- 
tended, and  more  disposed  to  blame  her  horses  than  our 
car.  In  a  few  minutes  the  whole  equipage  is  readjusted, 
and  she  resumes  her  journey  towards  the  town.  The 
darkness  increases,  and  soon  the  fires  from  the  refugee 
camps  out  on  the  plain,  play  back  to  the  stars. 

After  many  versts  we  turn  off  the  highway,  and  while 
woods  seem  to  invest  us  more  and  more  closely,  we  occa- 
sionally hear  a  far-off  low  rumble,  which  is  not  the  thunder 
of  nature.  Once  again  we  turn  sharply  off  in  the  darkness 
as  if  entering  some  private  avenue.  The  sound  of  voices 
and  of  laughter  comes  to  us  :  we  get  amongst  a  number 
of  outhouses  and  open  yards,  around  which  are  disposed 
bivouac  fires.  Silhouetted  figures  rise  up  quickly  and  come 
to  the  salute  in  immobility.  An  abrupt  bend  to  the 
right,  and  in  a  few  moments  we  have  swung  in  under  the 
covered  porch  of  a  large  white  shadowy  building, — an  old 
Schloss,  at  present  the  headquarters  of  the  General  of 

the Division  and  his  Staff.    It  is  very  late,  but  we 

are  urged  to  partake  of  a  simple  but  excellent  meal.  My 
companions  and  myself  are  given  a  room  next  to  the 
General's, — in  fact  the  only  way  to  his  leads  through 
ours.  It  is  all  so  strange, — the  sensation  of  being  in  the 
enemy's  territory.  How  will  hostility  express  itself, — 
will  it  be  always  there,  at  every  moment,  exhaled  from 
everything  ?  I  step  out  into  the  darkness  by  way  of 
the  verandah  on  the  side  of  the  house  opposite  to 
that  by  which  we  entered.  There  is  an  open  space,  per- 
haps a  garden,  bounded  by  some  brooding  spruces,  but 
there  is  no  sound  unless  the  occasional  measured  step  of 
a  sentry,  beating  out  his  guard  on  a  gravel  path. 

There  is  a  certain  unusual  feeling  in  thus  being  a  guest 


130       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

in  a  mansion  from  which  the  proprietor  has  fled.  Yet  if 
he  could  have  returned  to  the  Castle  on  any  August 
afternoon  in  1915,  he  could  only  have  wondered  at  the 
generous  attitude  of  those  who  for  the  time  being  had 
succeeded  him  in  the  occupancy  of  it.  The  outer  hall 
hung  with  the  trophies  of  the  chase — boar's  heads  and 
wild  duck,  deers'  head  and  falcons, — still  retained  its 
welcoming  aspect.  The  walnut-cased  grand  piano  of 
Dresden  make  stood  in  the  dining-room  unharmed  in  any 
way.  The  billiard-room,  regularly  frequented  by  members 
of  the  staff,  was  treated  as  their  own  would  have  been. 
My  companions  and  I  had  camp  beds  in  the  boudoir  of 
the  lady  of  the  house,  but  her  letters,  collected  Christmas 
cards  and  picture  postcards,  were  lying  exactly  as  she  had 
left  them.  "  Lola,  1900,"  and  other  signed  photographs 
stood  plaintively  in  their  frames  and  racks  just  where 
she  had  placed  them.  The  room  and  its  setting, — more 
distinctive  and  closer  to  the  spirit  of  the  house  than  the 
undiscerning  outer  hall — worked  itself  into  your  being, 
under  such  circumstances.  The  fawn-coloured  orchid- 
patterned  wallpaper,  the  white-tiled  stove  in  one  corner, 
the  artistic  oil  lamp,  the  screen,  the  easy  sofas  and  covered 
arm-chairs,  the  vases  and  even  the  nests  of  little  tables, 
all  seemed  to  be  waiting  to  serve  some  vanished  presence, 
and  as  if  rebellious  at  the  intruders.  There  was  a  hard- 
ness in  the  faces  of  the  family  portraits  :  the  oleographs 
and  prints  expressing  their  detestation  by  hanging  squint. 
I  wandered  all  through  the  Castle  one  day.  By  means  of 
a  little  iron  spiral  staircase  placed  in  a  corner  of  the  hall, 
access  was  gained  to  the  upper  floor,  the  principal  room  of 
which  was  also  hung  with  family  portraits,  and  con- 
tained two  good-sized  bookcases.  The  contents  were 
mainly  Polish  works,  but  "  Fabiola  "  by  Cardinal  Wise- 
man, "  Tom  Brown's  Schooldays,"  "  The  Great  Lone 
Land  "  by  General  Butler,  a  work  by  E.  Denolins  en- 
titled "  A  quoi  tient  la  Superiority  des  Anglo-Saxons," 
together  with  many  books  on  Natural  History,  testified 


THE    OLD    SCHLOSS,    VIEWED    FROM    THE    BACK. 


^~-r—  'i-^^iriii^ifii 


VILLAGE    BESIDE    THE    SCHLOSS. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  131 

to  the  wide  outlook  of  their  owner.  And  if  he  had  fol- 
lowed me  through  his  house,  I  do  not  think  that  he 
could  have  complained  of  anything  except  the  state  of 
his  now  long  unpolished  parquet  floors. 

At  the  back  of  the  old  Schloss  was  a  pillared  porch, 
from  which  steps  led  down  to  a  terraced  walk.  From 
this  in  turn  the  ground  fell  away  in  a  series  of  terraces 
to  a  little  park  planted  with  shrubs  and  finally  shut  in 
by  rows  of  pine  trees,  with  a  break  only  at  one  point 
immediately  opposite,  through  which  showed  some  of 
the  village  cottages  on  a  rising  slope,  themselves  partially 
concealed  by  rich  and  variegated  vegetation.  A  flam- 
boyant vine  spread  all  over  the  porch  and  pillars  and 
that  portion  of  the  wall  immediately  above  it.  Gera- 
niums flowered  gaily  in  boxes  by  the  balustrade,  but 
the  paths  were  all  overgrown  with  weeds  ;  and  the  roses, 
stick-trained  and  named,  yet  showed  by  their  wildness 
that  they  had  long  missed  some  wonted  tending  hand. 

One  morning  we  go  the  round  of  inspection  with  the 
General.  He  has  under  him  four  regiments  of  infantry 
with  cavalry  and  artillery, — 25,000  men  in  all.  A  body- 
guard of  100  Cossacks  is  quartered  in  the  large  outhouses 
and  stables  of  the  Castle.  In  one  coach-house  stand  a 
dozen  motor-bicycles  ;  in  the  others  are  disposed  the  five 
or  six  powerful  cars  used  by  the  Staff.  Here  only  does 
one  see  the  wastage  of  war  so  far  as  the  proprietor  of  the 
Castle  suffered  under  it.  His  carriages  have  been 
allowed  to  stand  out  in  all  weathers  simply  because  there 
is  no  place  to  put  them,  and  they  have  certainly  been 
ruined  :  mats  c'est  la  guerre. 

The  Cossacks  have  lined  up  near  the  long  thatched 
shed  where  they  sleep,  their  beautiful  horses  tethered  to 
feeding  posts,  which  are  shaded  by  trees. 

"Sdravstvuite,  Kasaki!"  ("Greeting,  Cossacks!")  calls 
out  the  General,  and  in  a  thunderous  staccato  come  back 
the   words,    "  Sdraviya  Jelaem   Vashye   Prevoschoditel- 


132       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

stvo  "  ("  We  wish  you  well,  your  Excellency  !  ").  "  Do- 
volno!  "  shouts  the  General  ("Enough!  "),  signifying  that 
they  may  come  from  the  salute.  A  boy  of  sixteen  is  led  up ; 
he  is  an  Austrian,  already  in  training  to  join  the  Russian 
army  as  a  volunteer.  He  is  proud  to  be  greeted  by  the 
General,  and  has  evidently  already  become  good  friends 
with  the  Cossacks. 

One  day  was  devoted  to  examining  the  working  of 
the  Army  Medical  Department.  After  first  aid  on  the 
field  the  wounded  soldiers  are  brought  back  to  the  village 
beside  the  Schloss  for  their  second  dressing,  and  then 
removed  to  the  hospital  at  Tarnopol ;  thence  they  pro- 
ceed later  by  train  to  Kiev.  The  village  schoolhouse  has 
been  taken  over  as  headquarters  for  the  divisional  prin- 
cipal medical  officer  and  his  subordinates.  A  large  tent 
near  by,  part  of  the  local  arrangements  for  the  accom- 
modation of  280  wounded  men,  has  just  been  "  evacu- 
ated," and  contains  nothing  but  the  latest  case, — a  poor 
fellow  who  had  been  carrying  a  grenade  which  was  hit 
by  a  bullet  and  exploded,  smashing  his  arm  and  leg. 
He  has  just  had  the  former  amputated,  and  in  his  sleep 
is  tended  by  an  orderly  who  stands  at  the  head  of  his 
palliasse,  keeping  off  the  flies.  One  cannot  help  being 
impressed  with  the  neatness  of  this  divisional  field 
hospital,  in  which  everything  can  be  packed  up  and  got 
under  way  within  an  hour.  The  complete  dental  outfit, — 
chair,  drills,  and  other  apparatus  going  into  two  boxes 
otherwise  used  as  tables, — the  ambulance  carts  that 
have  been  in  continual  use  for  a  year,  constructed  to 
carry  four  lying  down  or  eight  sitting,  the  outfits  for  the 
attendants  in  the  field  (feldshers1  and  sanitars) — more 
complete,  as  my  American  companion,  a  Red  Cross 
Colonel,  testified  than  the  corresponding  outfits  in  his 
own  country, — have  been  well  tried  in  the  Carpathian 

1  The  feldsher  is  a  qualified  medical  assistant.  After  leaving  school 
he  takes  a  short  medical  course.  He  gives  first-aid  in  the  field  and  in 
the  trenches.     Sanitars  are  orderlies  who  bring  in  the  wounded,  etc. 


"A    TAILLESS    DOG    OF    A    PECULIAR    BREED. 


i 

. 

1 

— 

>'  ■  w* 

E    LARGEST    BUILDING  .  . 

. . HAD    BEEN 

mtmamz. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  133 

and  other  campaigns,  and  survived  the  test.  The  largest 
building  in  the  village  had  been  a  distillery.  The  Russians 
took  it  over  and  transformed  it  into  baths — steam  and 
hot  water — where  1000  men  bathe  daily,  so  that  the 
soldiers  in  that  division  get  one  Russian  bath  a  month.  A 
tailless  dog  of  a  peculiar  breed,  taken  from  the  Austrians, 
is  led  out  and  fitted  into  its  little  Red  Cross  coat  :  they 
are  used  for  finding  the  wounded.  In  a  park  near  the 
village  are  the  additional  field-hospital  elements  provided 
by  the  Red  Cross  Society  to  supplement  the  regular 
army  establishment  of  eight  carts  for  sick  and  wounded 
to  each  regiment, — 35  telyegas  particularly  well  equipped 
with  mattress,  covering  cloth,  and  pillows  with  distinctive 
blue  lines  worked  through  the  ticking.  Such  telyegas  can 
carry  four  men  if  necessary.  How  they  would  have  liked 
to  have  had  them  in  the  Carpathian  campaign  !  "In  one 
night  I  had  1700  wounded  to  look  after  and  my  transport 
was  gone.  .  .  .  I  lost  75  per  cent  of  my  medical  personnel. 
...  Of  my  22  original  feldshers,  8  only  are  left."  In 
short  word-pictures  one  was  given  to  understand  the 
horrors  of  that  Carpathian  retreat.  At  present  there  are 
no  infectious  cases,  and  no  cholera  in  the  district  allotted 
to  this  particular  division.  But  as  yet  they  have  not 
succeeded  in  overcoming  "  the  infinite  torment  of  flies." 
Forty  thousand  respirators  have  been  collected  in  antici- 
pation of  attacks  with  poison  gases.1 

The  feeding  arrangements  seem  to  be  very  thorough. 
Every  line  regiment  is  divided  into  16  "  roti  "  (com- 
panies) :  in  every  rota  there  are  250  men.  Every  rota 
has  a  couple  of  samovars,  each  with  a  capacity  of  66 
litres  ;  it  also  has  8  teapots  with  a  capacity  of  7  litres 
each,  so  that  the  soldier  can  always  have  tea  and  hot  water 
every  half -hour  under  normal  conditions.  He  has  two 
meals  a  day,  at  noon  and  at  8  in  the  evening.  He  receives 
a  daily  allowance  of  1  lb.  of  meat  and  3  lbs.  of  black 

1  These  are  soaked  in  a  preparation  made  after  this  formula :  glyc. , 
1650  ;  nat.  hyposulph.,  990  0  ;  H20,  27600  ;  nat.  carb.,  1650. 


134       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

bread,  together  with  tea,  and  12  pieces  of  sugar.  At 
each  meal  he  gets  soup  with  potatoes  and  rice,  and  about 
half  a  pound  of  kasha  (gruel).  In  that  district  at  that 
time  the  feeding  of  a  soldier  cost  58  kopeks  a  day.  A 
bottle  of  red  wine  was  also  being  served  out  daily  amongst 
every  8  soldiers  as  a  preventive  against  cholera.  The 
soldier's  pay  on  the  lowest  grade  is  75  kopeks  a  month. 
The  separation  allowance  to  a  reservist's  wife  is  5  rubles 
a  month  and  3  rubles  for  each  child  ;  widows  receive  less. 

Another  afternoon  we  set  out  for  "the  positions."  At 
that  time  the  line  lay  along  the  valley  of  the  Zlotaya 
Lipa,  the  Russian  trenches  being  on  the  one  bank,  and 
the  Austrian  on  the  other.  The  Russians  had  been  on 
that  particular  position  for  six  weeks  and  the  front  was 
generally  reported  as  "  quiet,"  although  rifle  and  artillery 
fire  were  kept  up  by  day  and  night,  especially  at  night. 
The  road  followed  the  direction  of  the  high  road  towards 
Tarnopol  for  a  time,  and  then  we  turned  off  sharply 
into  a  birch  wood  on  the  left.  After  traversing  this  we 
came  out  on  a  broad  dale  which  wound  its  way  between 
thickly  wooded  rising  ground  on  either  side.  The  general 
direction  was  towards  the  valley  of  the  Zlotaya  Lipa, 
yet  short  of  it  were  hamlets,  and  the  dale  issued  in  rising 
ground  in  part  bare,  in  part  wooded,  which  in  turn  fell 
away  into  the  valley  of  the  river.  In  the  woods  on  either 
side  of  the  dale  the  reserves  were  encamped,  and  regularly 
towards  evening  the  dale  and  woods  were  searched  with 
shell  and  shrapnel  from  the  Austrian  batteries  across  the 
river.  As  we  descend  the  dale  one  shell  explodes  in  the 
wood  to  the  left,  another  ploughs  up  the  ground  in  the 
open  ahead  of  us,  a  third  gets  two  horses  and  a  man  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  wood  to  the  right.  Yet  under  it  all, 
particularly  where  we  moved  up  the  ascent  that  would 
bring  us  into  view  of  the  Austrian  lines,  peasant  women 
were  working  in  the  fields,  reaping  their  corn  with  sickles, 
as  calmly  and  deliberately  as  if  nothing  were  happening. 


PASSED    OVER    IMMEDIATELY    INTO    A   COMMUNICATION    TRENCH 


PEASANT    WOMEN     WERE    WORKING     IN     THE     FIELDS. 


ON  THE   GALICIAN  FRONT  135 

The  road  we  were  following  reached  the  summit  and  then 
commenced  to  descend  the  slope  towards  the  river  in 
full  view  of  the  Austrian  lines.  It  ceased  to  be  serviceable, 
therefore,  in  that  respect,  and  we  passed  over  immedi- 
ately into  a  communication  trench,  whose  deep-cut 
windings  and  zigzaggings  in  a  thick  clayey  soil,  exposed 
sometimes  to  the  depth  of  the  limestone  beneath,  afforded 
sufficient  protection  over  the  nearer  ridge,  till  we  got  to 
one  that  was  wooded,  under  the  shelter  of  whose  bushes 
were  encamped  the  reserves  of  the  particular  companies 
holding  the  trenches  beyond  them.  There  were  many 
tentes  d'abri,  but  the  actual  living  was  mostly  done  in 
the  regular  lines  of  dug-outs  that  honeycombed  the 
ridge,  and  testified  by  their  shrapnel-proof  roofs  to  the 
character  of  the  normal  conditions  of  life.  Camp  fires 
were  burning  merrily  in  spite  of  the  heavy  rain.  In 
company  with  the  colonel  we  moved  100  yards  farther 
on  through  the  wood  till  we  came  to  the  first  line  trenches. 
At  every  step  of  this  short  passage  the  effects  of  occasional 
shelling  were  in  evidence.  Small  craters  6  feet  in  diameter 
and  2  to  3  feet  deep  were  obvious  relics  of  uncomfortably 
close  attentions.  At  the  same  time  the  Russians  thought 
that  they  had  observed  a  marked  deterioration  in  the 
quality  of  the  German  shells.  Of  51  that  had  lately  come 
amongst  them,  16  had  not  exploded.  From  the  first  line 
trenches  the  Austrian  trenches  were  clearly  visible  across 
the  river  400  yards  away,  with  a  very  long  zigzagging 
communication  trench  that  led  up  the  opposite  bank  till 
it  gained  the  shelter  of  a  forest. 

Of  the  four  battalions  comprising  a  regiment  it  was 
customary  here  for  two  to  be  in  the  trenches  for  four 
days  and  three  nights,  while  the  other  two  were  in  reserve 
during  that  period.  The  change  is  carried  out  during 
the  fourth  night.  The  different  roti  or  companies  have 
each  their  own  definite  locality  for  encampment  in  the 
rear  :  this  aids  in  the  localising  of  epidemics  or  sickness. 
There  is  a  very  characteristic  development  of  the  field 


136       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

kitchen, — principally  for  the  supplying  of  the  hot  soup 
in  which  the  Russian  takes  his  meat,  although  the  use  of 
them  also  tends  to  keep  the  camps  more  sanitary.  The  men 
in  the  trenches  can  only  get  one  hot  meal  in  the  24  hours. 
Their  portable  field  kitchens  are  brought  up  at  night 
from  the  reserve  positions  to  the  support  stations  of  the 
trenches. 

In  returning,  we  went  into  the  wood  of  oak  and  horn- 
beam ("  grab  ")  on  the  edge  of  which  the  reserve  batta- 
lions were  encamped.  Rain  was  falling  in  torrents,  and 
the  little  tents,  formed  by  stretching  canvas  over  a  hori- 
zontal pole  supported  by  two  short  vertical  ones,  were 
largely  abandoned  for  the  shell-proof  dug-outs.  Shadowy 
figures  moved  in  the  gloom  of  the  trees  between  the  tents, 
the  piles  of  rifles,  and  fires  surrounded  by  numbers  of 
teapots  and  samovars.  With  their  cartridge  pouches 
full  of  cigarettes  for  the  time  being,  the  soldiers  were 
content  to  let  the  elements  do  their  worst. 

The  rain  passed,  and  we  moved  out  to  visit  one  of  the 
batteries.  To  reach  it,  situated  on  open  rising  ground 
that  finally  sloped  away  down  to  the  river  valley,  meant 
passing  round  the  end  of  one  of  the  woods.  This  passage, 
owing  to  the  conformation  of  the  land,  happened  to  be 
in  full  view  of  the  Austrian  lines,  and  necessitated  the 
negotiation  of  it  in  pairs  or  by  single  individuals.  But 
speedily  we  got  into  a  hollow  again  and  then  climbed 
slowly  towards  the  battery.  It  was  now  composed  of 
only  six  3-inch  guns  made  in  1902,  since  two  guns  had 
had  to  be  detailed  to  another  battery.  It  had  accounted 
for  two  Austrian  batteries  at  the  battle  of  Krasny  on 
August  10th,  1914.  On  the  San,  during  the  same  cam- 
paign, it  had  fired  3000  shells  in  one  day,  and  together 
with  the  other  five  batteries,  now  in  the  same  district,  had 
silenced  a  strong  field  fort  (Lyejakoff)  at  the  cost  of 
12,000  shells.  It  was  indeed  a  famous  battery,  dating 
back.to  1812,  and  decorated  with  the  Order  of  St.  George. 
The  guns  were  standing  on  land  from  which  the  crops 


THE    FIRST    LINE    TRENCHES. 


"MIMICKING    THE    SURROUNDING    SHOCKS    OF    GRAIN. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  137 

had  been  taken,  but  so  skilfully  were  they  covered  with 
straw  that  the  Austrian  aeroplane  which  used  to  recon- 
noitre the  Russian  positions  towards  evening,  and  occa- 
sionally dropped  leaflets  of  a  seditionary  character,1  had 
apparently  not  yet  discovered  them. 

We  went  to  the  observation  point  more  than  half  a 
mile  away,  from  which  the  effects  of  their  shelling  could 
be  seen  in  the  sector  of  the  river  valley  covered  by  the 
guns.  A  deep  communication  trench  led  towards  and 
then  along  the  Russian  side  of  the  ridge,  till  it  suddenly 
turned  down  to  the  right  into  the  face  of  the  slope.  At 
the  end  was  a  binocular  range-finder,  through  which  on 
the  far  side  of  the  valley  could  be  seen  two  parallel 
whitish  lines  representing  the  first  and  second  line  of 
Austrian  trenches, — just  very  much  as  if  it  had  been 
necessary  to  lay  down  two  lines  of  drains  at  different 
levels  along  the  valley,  and  the  navvies  had  thrown  out 
the  material  on  this  side  of  their  excavation.  Not  a 
sign  of  a  movement  was  visible  anywhere.  Yet  only 
about  half  a  mile  to  the  right  was  a  village  situated  on  the 
river's  bank,  which  both  sides  had  apparently  agreed  to 
leave  untouched,  and  where  men  and  women  and  cattle 
could  be  seen  going  about. 

One  day  it  became  necessary  to  try  and  find  out 
whether  certain  German  troops   had  been  withdrawn, 

1  The  translation  of  the  proclamation  overleaf  is  as  follows  : 

Seven  Rubles 

pays 

the  Austrian  military  administration 

for  each  Russian  rifle 

(and  1  kopek  for  each  Russian  cartridge) 

brought 

to  the  Austrian  authorities. 


The  prisoners  in  Austria  are  well  fed 

and  well  treated. 

Come  over  to  us,  then  quickly 

the  war  will  be  finished. 


138       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

i.e.  whether  Austrians  alone,  or  Germans  and  Austrians, 
held  the  trenches  opposite  at  a  certain  point.  The  idea 
was  that  by  vigorous  shelling  of  the  trenches,  and  of  the 
woods  where  the  opposing  forces  were  believed  to  be,  it 
might  be  possible  to  force  them  to  expose  themselves  at 
some  point  or  another,  and  from  an  advanced  observation 
point  the  necessary  information  could  be  gained  by 
noting  the  uniforms,  if  in  no  other  way. 

The  morning  broke  grey  and  cloudy,  and  distant 
mutterings  of  thunder  betokened  a  renewal  of  the  heavy 
rains  that  had  recently  disconcerted  action  on  either 
side,  and  reduced  the  roads,  such  as  they  were,  to  quag- 
mires of  most  tenacious  slime.  Long  before  the  hour 
fixed  for  the  start  some  of  the  Cossacks  were  standing 
at  the  front  entrance  of  the  Schloss,  holding  the  champing 
horses  of  the  Staff,  their  own  horses  being  looked  after 
by  their  comrades.  Infantry  men  with  fixed  bayonets 
stood  at  the  corners  of  the  broadened  avenue  waiting 
until  the  General,  map  in  hand,  had  gone  over  the  last 
details  of  the  day's  work  with  his  Staff  under  the  entrance 
porch.  He  was  a  true  Russian  in  his  kind-heartedness 
and  in  his  impulsiveness  alike,  and  as  in  blue-grey  uniform 
with  red  lapels  he  moved  off  on  a  black  charger,  he  looked 
what  he  really  was,  a  great  soldier.  The  other  officers 
sprang  into  their  saddles  and  followed  him  sedately  on 
horses  no  two  of  which  were  alike  in  colour,  while  the 
Caucasian  Cossack  officers  with  bashliks  red  or  fawn,  and 
black  burka  sweeping  behind  them  to  the  root  of  the 
horse's  tail,  started  last  and  went  clattering  past  on  their 
special  business  for  the  moment  of  preparing  a  way.  It 
was  a  brave  picture. 

The  character  of  the  country  and  the  nature  of  the 
journey  were  as  at  other  points  of  the  line.  The  road 
lay  in  parts  through  open  country,  pasture  land  or  stubble, 
acres  under  cultivation  to  potatoes,  flax  or  buckwheat. 
At  one  point  you  could  see  ahead  to  woods  sloping  towards 
us  from  the  top  of  which  smoke  issued,  as  if  the  forest 


smggSSBSSSBSSSBS^B^SSBB 


7  7 

njiaTHn> 
aBCTpiiicKoe  BoeHHoe  ynpaBjreme 

3A  KA5KA0E  P1TCCK0E  POT>E 

(HlKontftKy  3a  KajKAUiipyceKifi  naTpoHi.) 

AOCTaBJieHHoe 

aBCTpiHCKHMT>  BJiaCTHMT>. 

ILatHHblXT.  BT>  ABCTpiH  XOpOHIO  KOpMHTl 

h  coAepxcarb. 
IlepexoAHTe  ht>  Baifb,  TorAa  cKopo 

IIOKOH4HTCH  BO&Hal 


KKMKXKKKKKKKKKKKMMKKKK 


LEAFLETS     OF    A    SEDITIONARY    CHARACTER. 


7 


7 


AT    THE    END    WAS    A    BINOCULAR    RANGE-FINDER. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  139 

were  on  fire  ;  there,  we  could  tell,  some  of  our  forces  were 
encamped.  At  other  times  we  plunged  into  birch  woods, 
following  one  another  in  Indian  file  or  making  our  own 
way  parallel  with  the  others.  Once  again  we  would 
come  out  by  some  peasant's  hut  knocked  to  pieces  by 
shell-fire,  and  follow  a  road  where  steps  had  to  be  chosen 
owing  to  the  same  cause.  In  time  we  reached  some  open 
patches  on  the  summit  of  that  side  of  the  main  valley 
that  was  ours,  across  which  the  procedure  was  to  gallop 
singly  or  in  pairs,  as  they  lay  exposed  to  the  enemies' 
lines  across  the  river.  These  were  now  open,  now  concealed 
in  woods  similar  to  those  on  our  side  of  the  river,  but  the 
enemy  was  in  greater  force  and  credited  with  a  desire  to 
advance  and  attempt  to  retake  Tarnopol. 

Rain  was  now  coming  down  in  torrents,  and  at  some 
points  mist  lay  in  the  valley.  At  last  we  reached  the 
particular  wood  along  whose  edge,  in  a  direction  at  right 
angles  to  the  line  of  the  valley  below  us,  a  regiment  was 
encamped.  It  was  they  who  would  have  to  be  prepared 
for  any  uncalculated  results  that  the  bombardment  might 
produce.  The  plan  is  outlined  on  the  map  to  the  officers 
grouped  around  under  a  broad  sheltering  tree,  for  the 
rain  had  not  slackened.  At  11  a.m.  all  the  batteries  will 
concentrate  :  the  35  guns  will  each  fire  just  two  rounds 
so  far  as  possible  simultaneously,  thereafter  batteries 
2-6  in  succession  will  fire  so  many  rounds,  and  lastly 
battery  1. 

Before  moving  on,  the  General  made  a  tour  of  in- 
spection of  the  lines  of  sunken  dug-outs  in  which  the 
men  were  quartered  on  the  edge  of  the  wood.  Ten  to 
15  feet  long,  6  to  8  feet  wide,  4  to  6  feet  deep,  the  shelters 
were  concealed  in  front  by  a  row  of  birch  branches  fixed 
in  the  ground  along  the  length  of  the  lines  ;  behind  this 
screen  a  definite  footpath  had  been  constructed  the  whole 
way  along.  They  were  floored  with  straw,  on  the 
top  of  which  the  men  had  spread  their  overcoats.  A 
slanting  shrapnel-proof  roof  was  constructed  by  the  aid 


140       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

of  logs  of  the  length  of  the  dug-out,  3  to  6  inches  in  thick- 
ness. These  were  overlaid  with  thin  branches,  sods,  and 
lastly  green  branches.  They  showed  considerable  variety 
in  construction,  and  being  well-ditched  and  with  comfort- 
able steps  cut  out  in  the  hard  clay  soil,  were  likewise 
proof  against  bad  weather.  Everything  around  seemed 
clean.  Special  shelters  were  made  for  the  rifles  with 
bayonets  fixed,  supporting  one  another  in  a  double  row. 
The  ground  was  unusually  slippery  with  the  rain,  but  the 
Russians  with  their  unnailed  low-heeled  boots  moved 
about  with  no  apparent  difficulty. 

Thereafter  we  passed  on  to  one  of  the  batteries  which 
was  to  take  part  in  the  coming  bombardment.  The  way 
led  through  a  beautiful  wood  of  tall  graceful  birches  with 
a  rich  undergrowth  of  ferns  and  shrubs  and  lush  green 
grass.  It  was  difficult  to  restrain  from  holding  back 
simply  to  watch  the  effect  of  that  brightly  caparisoned 
staff  disappearing  amongst  the  trees.  The  battery  was 
posted  in  open  ground  between  this  and  another  wood, 
but  an  artificial  spinney  of  hazel  and  birch  branches  had 
been  so  cleverly  constructed  around  and  about  it,  that 
the  questing  Austrian  aeroplane  that  was  so  unremit- 
ting in  its  attentions  had  apparently  as  yet  made  no  dis- 
covery, and  an  unsuspecting  pedestrian  would  not  have 
been  aware  of  anything  till  he  had  stumbled  on  the 
guns.  But  eleven  was  approaching,  and  we  had  still 
some  distance  to  go  to  reach  the  observation  position 
from  which  we  could  watch  the  effects  of  the  bombard- 
ment. 

On  the  edge  of  the  river-valley  there  was  a  fringe  of 
wood  in  front  of  which  lay  open  ground  sloping  gradually 
downwards,  and  just  beyond  it  some  brush  over  which 
could  be  gained  a  very  clear  view  into  the  valley  below. 
The  river  at  this  point  looked  to  be  some  25  to  30  feet 
across,  and  was  spanned  by  a  wooden  bridge.  Close  to 
the  farther  bank  was  the  first  Austrian  line,  difficult  to 
see,  being  merely  a  deep-sunk  trench  without  any  material 


IN    PARTS    THROUGH    OPEN    COUNTRY 


SPECIAL    DUGOUTS    WERE    MADE    FOR    THE    RIFLES. 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  HI 

thrown  up  in  front.  Somewhat  behind  this  first  line  lay 
the  village  of  ,  consisting  of  some  rows  of  white- 
walled  huts  and  cottages  with  brown  thatched  roofs,  and 
two  or  three  larger  stone  buildings,  one  of  which  with  a 
blue  slate  roof  was  obviously  a  school,  another  a  church 
also  with  blue  roof  and  steeple,  while  a  third  with  a  red 
roof  looked  like  a  long  shed.  On  the  north-west  side  of 
the  village  was  a  clump  of  wood  extending  up  the  side  of 
the  valley,  and  behind  both  village  and  wood  was  the 
second  Austrian  line,  much  clearer  than  the  first  by  reason 
of  the  parapet  of  soil  thrown  up  in  front.  Where  we  stood 
in  the  fringe  of  our  wood,  a  small  but  deep  cutting  led 
to  the  edge,  and  there  the  hyposcope  was  dexterously 
concealed  while  the  telephone  in  communication  with  the 
batteries  was  close  at  hand.  We  stood,  watches  in  hand, 
waiting  for  the  hour  when  the  attempt  should  be  made  to 
destroy  the  bridge  over  the  river  and  to  damage  the 
trenches.  At  last  the  hour  comes,  and  with  it  the  descend- 
ing wail  of  shells  arriving  from  all  directions  over  our 
heads.  The  observation  officer  and  the  man  at  the  tele- 
phone are  busy  in  a  conversation  built  up  out  of  figures 
from  the  map,  indicating  the  exact  point  of  aim  and  dis- 
tance, followed  by  the  recurrent  words,  "  Pritsyel " 
("Take  aim"),  "  Ogon "  ("Fire").  For  the  whole 
course  of  the  bombardment  is  thereafter  controlled, 
shot  by  shot,  from  this  point.  And  all  the  time  on  the 
open  slope  immediately  in  front,  a  peasant  continues  to 
plough  his  acres  in  greatest  equanimity.  That  had  to  be 
done. 

The  efficiency  of  the  Russian  artillery  has  from  the 
beginning  been  a  vital  factor  in  their  conduct  of  the 
war,  however  hampered  they  were  at  a  certain  stage  by  a 
lack  of  heavy  guns  and  of  ammunition.  The  objects  of 
the  bombardment  in  this  case  were  perfectly  definite, 
and  were  attained  in  a  way  that  seemed  past  belief. 
There  was  a  strange  fascination  in  listening  to  that  scream 
of  something  cruelly  forcing  its  way  through  the  air,  till 


142       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

the  sound  ceased  and  was  succeeded  by  an  explosion  as 
a  cloud  of  smoke  rose  where  the  shell  had  burst  in  or 
over  the  trench,  or  a  shower  of  earth  fountained  upwards 
when  it  struck  the  fields  behind  the  village.  Sometimes 
there  was  a  flash,  sometimes  the  discharge  showed  only 
as  a  cloud  of  white  or  at  other  times  of  dark  brown  smoke 
as  shells,  grenades,  shrapnel  or  bombs  were  hurled  at 
the  positions.  Nothing  moved  in  the  village  :  it  seemed 
like  a  place  of  the  dead.  The  bridge  went,  the  trenches 
were  torn  to  bits,  but  only  three  shells,  so  far  as  I  could 
see,  hit  the  village  at  all.  Several  were  dropped  in  the 
wood,  white  clouds  playing  amid  the  tree -tops  as  they 
found  their  mark.  A  colonel  on  the  Staff  draws  atten- 
tion to  forms  slipping  out  of  the  wood  at  the  far  corner 
and  rushing  to  the  cover  of  the  second  line  trenches.  He 
even  declares  that  through  his  glasses  he  can  make  out 
an  officer  of  high  rank.  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  they 
are  Germans.  Then  the  song  of  the  shells  seems  to 
change.  They  are  coming  this  way  now,  trying  to  find 
our  batteries. 

One  morning  I  went  round  the  village  that  lay  quite 
near,  outside  the  walls  of  the  Castle  grounds.  You  walked 
out  by  the  continuation  of  the  avenue  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  that  by  which  we  had  entered,  and  were 
immediately  on  a  broad  road  that  descended  into  the 
main  thoroughfare  of  the  village.  The  peasants  were  of 
pronouncedly  Slavonic  type.  The  men,  ordinarily  dressed 
in  a  loose  white  cotton  jacket  and  trousers,  looked  out  from 
under  tall  straw  hats  that  had  a  brim  equal  in  breadth  to 
its  height.  They  wear  their  hair  long  ;  the  women  wear 
it  just  a  little  longer,  and  dress  in  brightly  coloured 
garments  not  unlike  some  Russian  peasant  styles.  The 
cottages  usually  stood  end-on  to  the  road,  forming  one 
side  of  a  yard,  of  which  the  other  sides  were  composed  of 
barns  and  outhouses.  The  walls  of  the  cottages  were 
white-washed,    with   filleted   brown   thatch   roofs.      By 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  143 

religion  these  peasants  are  Uniat.  They  often  have  a  large- 
sized  sacred  picture  hanging  on  the  outside  wall,  beside  the 
door  of  their  cottage.  Continually  along  the  rOads  one 
came  on  images  and  crosses.  Sometimes  also  they  would 
be  found  quite  removed  from  the  tracks  or  highways. 
Not  far  from  one  of  the  batteries,  planted  in  an  open 
position,  stand  two  goodly  trees,  side  by  side,  and  between 
them  is  an  image  of  the  Christ.  The  soldiers  of  one  of 
the  regiments  were  billeted  on  the  peasants  in  the  village, 
and  the  relationship  seemed  to  be  very  friendly.  An  aged 
relative  of  the  proprietor  of  the  Schloss,  who  had  decided 
to  stay  on  in  the  vicinity  to  try  and  keep  an  eye  on  things, 
and  whose  general  attitude  to  the  Russians  was  un- 
friendly, could  not  speak  in  any  unfavourable  way  of 
the  behaviour  of  the  Russian  soldiers  towards  the  pea- 
santry. His  principal  complaint  bore  on  what  he  con- 
sidered the  indiscriminate  cutting  down  of  his  cousin's 
timber  to  make  camp  fires. 

Another  of  these  quickly  passing  days  proved  to  be  the 
annual  holy  day  and  holiday  of  one  of  the  regiments.  It 
happened  to  coincide  with  the  day  on  which  in  Russia 
apples  and  honey  are  taken  to  the  churches  to  be  blessed, — 
one  of  these  primitive  ceremonial  festivals  with  a  deep 
meaning,  which  also  had  the  very  salutary  effect  of  pre- 
venting the  people  from  eating  apples  before  they  were 
ripe.  The  day's  proceedings  began  with  divine  service, 
which  was  held  in  a  large  field  not  far  from  the  Castle. 
When  we  arrived,  the  soldiers  were  already  drawn  up 
by  battalions  on  three  sides  of  a  square.  In  the  centre 
were  the  colours,  and  two  men  standing  by  them.  Close 
by  was  a  table  with  the  Evangile,  crucifix  and  sacra- 
mental elements,  and  three  priests  in  bright  green  robes 
with  a  heavy  gold  design  worked  on  them.  The  officers 
of  the  Staff  stood  on  a  line  continuous  with  one  of  the 
open  sides  of  the  human  square.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
General,  accompanied  by  his  Chief-of-Staff,  walked  on 


144       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

to  the  field,  and  having  greeted  the  colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment, went  round  the  different  battalions,  first  greeting 
the  officers,  and  then,  in  a  loud  voice,  the  men,  to  be  met 
in  each  case  by  a  punctuated  roar  of  welcome  from  the 
ranks.  He  then  made  short  speeches  in  praise  of  the 
Emperor,  the  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  and  of  the  division. 
Each  speech  was  rounded  off  with  the  appropriate 
selection  by  the  band,  which  could  hardly  be  heard  above 
the  sustained  cheering.  Finally,  he  walked  down  the 
line  of  the  Staff,  saluting  and  shaking  hands,  after  which 
the  Staff  moved  forward  and  the  service  began. 

A  choir  of  soldiers  sustaining  the  recurring  petition 
for  divine  mercy  in  deep-voiced  melody,  as  one  of  the 
priests  recited  prayers  ;  the  reading  of  the  Evangile 
and  the  presentation  of  the  Book  for  the  adoration  of 
the  worshippers  ;  an  address,  simple  and  full  of  fine 
feeling  and  exhortation ;  the  solemn  prayer  for  their  dead 
comrades,  in  which  the  whole  regiment  joined  in  spirit 
upon  bended  knee — each  element  progressively  intensified 
the  sense  that  these  were  men  engaged  in  what  was  for 
them  a  holy  war.  Then  the  priest  holds  up  the  crucifix 
before  them.  The  General  steps  forward,  kisses  it,  and  is 
sprinkled  with  holy  water.  He  is  followed  by  all  his 
Staff,  and  finally  the  priest  goes  round  the  companies  in 
turn,  blessing  and  sprinkling  them.  Is  there  any  wonder 
that  at  the  subsequent  march  past  the  General  and  Staff, 
determination  and  resolve  are  expressed  alike  in  the 
features  and  tramp  of  the  advancing  columns  ?  A  fine 
repast  follows  in  a  tent  near  the  village,  at  which  the 
officers  of  the  Staff  are  the  guests  of  the  officers  of  the 
celebrating  regiment.  Each  officer  seems  more  popular 
than  his  fellows,  if  one  may  judge  by  the  growing  volume 
of  repetition  of  their  attractive  toasting  song,  "  Mnogoye 
Lyeta  "  ("  Many  Years  "  ).  And  then  they  wander  back 
to  where  the  soldiers  are  giving  themselves  up  to  a  simple 
meal,  followed  by  sports.  There  is  a  relationship  between 
officers  and  men  in  the  Russian  army  that  is  absolutely 


IN    THE    CENTRE    WERE    THE    COLOl 


A. 


ANOTHER  GOT  UP  ON  HIS  SHOULDERS  IN  THE  SADDLE. 


ON  THE   GALICIAN  FRONT  145 

unique.  It  is  expressed  in  the  term  in  which  the  officers 
address  their  men, — "Bratzi"  ("brothers").  A  soldier 
approaching  an  officer  to  ask  him  if  he  will  take  part  in 
some  contest  along  with  them,  will  address  him  as  "  Dya- 
dushka  "  ("  little  uncle  ").  There  is  a  relationship  of 
infinite  good  humour  between  officers  and  men  that  never 
fails.  I  have  heard  an  officer  storming  at  his  orderly  for 
depositing  his  kit  in  the  wrong  compartment  in  a  train, 
then  pass  without  any  awareness  of  the  abruptness  of 
the  transition  to  a  careful  enquiry  as  to  how  he  had  come 
to  make  the  mistake,  even  suggesting  that  perhaps  it 
was  the  conductor's  fault,  and  then  end  by  calling  him 
all  the  endearing  terms  that  are  part  of  ordinary  Russian 
speech,  and  saying  that  he  must  be  more  careful  another 
time.  The  Russian  army  is  the  greatest  democracy  in 
the  world. 

Many  of  the  forms  of  sport  were  familiar,  and  all  were 
attempted  in  uniform  and  top  boots — high  jump  (at  which 
one  of  the  Cossacks  excelled),  long  jump,  greasy  pole, 
tourneys  with  bran  bags  on  a  horizontal  pole,  sack  race, 
wrestling  from  the  back  of  another  man,  racing  barefoot 
towards  a  scrambled  pile  of  their  boots  and  returning 
with  the  right  ones,  and  walking  blindfold  up  to  earthen- 
ware pots  stuck  upon  stakes,  to  demolish  them  with 
cudgels.  An  interesting  test  consisted  in  racing  in  com- 
panies of  four  with  a  little  cart  under  an  arch  from  which 
a  bucket  full  of  water  was  suspended,  while  spliced  to  it  was 
a  slab  of  wood  pierced  by  a  three-inch  hole.  One  man 
stood  erect  in  the  cart,  holding  a  rod  two  inches  in  thick- 
ness. He  was  rushed  under  the  arch  by  his  fellows,  and 
if  his  aim  was  good,  he  could  launch  the  rod  through  the 
hole  in  the  slab  in  passing.  If  he  missed  the  hole  and 
struck  the  slab,  the  bucket  was  tilted  forward  as  he  was 
drawn  onwards,  with  cooling  results.  For  hours  they  played 
while  the  peasants  from  the  village  looked  on.  The 
colonel  of  the  regiment  actively  participated  in  the 
sports  ;  he  was  what  the  Russians  term  a  "  sympathetic  " 


146       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

individual.  A  little  boy,  one  of  many  serving  as  a  volun- 
teer, walks  up  to  the  General  as  the  soldiers  crowd  round 
him  watching  the  competitors  at  the  long  jump,  and  ad- 
dressing him  respectfully,  says  that  he  would  like  to 
jump.  "  Try  it,"  says  the  General,  patting  him  on  the 
cheek,  and  motioning  to  the  men  to  hold  back  till  the 
youngster  tries.  The  soldier  that  follows  him  has  his 
spoon  sticking  out  of  the  top  of  his  high  boot. 

The  Cossacks  performed  to  the  delight  of  the  villagers 
and  the  pride  of  their  comrades  in  arms.  And  they  were 
not  young  men  now, — reserves,  over  rather  than  under 
thirty.  A  sotnia  of  Cossacks  (100  men)  is  divided  into 
four  zvods,  and  their  first  exhibitions  were  of  the  nature 
of  deploying  and  attacking  manoeuvres,  in  which  all  the 
commands  were  given  in  the  form  of  signs  from  the 
leader's  sabre,  and  repeated  by  the  section  commanders 
for  their  sections  with  their  nagaikas  (whips).  Then  one 
after  the  other  they  rushed  past  at  the  gallop,  and 
vaulting  right  out  of  the  saddle,  with  the  spring  off  the 
ground  on  the  one  side  cleared  the  horse's  croup  over  to 
the  other  side,  and  so  back  again,  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  always  off  the  ground.  Or  one  would  drop  his  cap, 
and  the  man  following  would  reach  down  out  of  the 
saddle  and  pick  it  up,  while  another  got  up  on  his  shoulders 
in  the  saddle,  with  feet  in  the  air,  and  performed  other 
different  tricks  all  at  the  gallop.  As  they  rode  off  the 
field,  they  sang. 

Song  plays  a  great  part  in  the  Russian  soldier's  life. 
In  a  base  hospital  where  I  stayed  some  days,  several  of 
them  used  to  get  together  every  evening  in  one  of  the 
corridors  and  sing  the  Vespers  service  through.  The 
singers  are  often  put  together  at  the  head  of  a  column 
and  lead  the  route  march  with  methodical  singing.  One 
morning  I  stole  out  to  listen  to  the  Cossacks  singing  in 
the  yard.  Amongst  other  things  they  sang  a  Galician 
song  which  they  had  learned  from  the  peasants  in  the 
village,  plaintive  beyond  description.     They  had  really 


ON  THE   GALICIAN  FRONT  147 

taken  to  this  song,  borrowed  from  the  conquered, — for 
they  do  not  easily  hate — and  seemed  to  love  to  sing  it 
in  all  its  exquisite  sweetness  and  softness.  They  got  some 
remarkable  light  and  shade  effects  in  songs  of  their  own — 
"  Kuku  "  (Cuckoo)  and  "  Tchorny  Ostrov  "  (The  Black 
Island),  as  also  Chmel,  a  dance-song  with  a  whistling 
accompaniment.  They  do  not  easily  hate,  yet  it  was 
these  very  men  who  at  one  point  in  the  Carpathian  cam- 
paign, when  maddened  by  being  compelled  to  retreat 
owing  to  a  marked  inferiority  in  numbers,  looked  in 
the  direction  of  the  advancing  enemy  and  said  :  "If 
we  cannot  kill  you  all,  our  sons  will  come  and  do  so." 

Prisoners  were  always  being  brought  in.  Each  little 
group  was  led  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  Schloss  and 
interrogated  by  the  Chief  of  the  Staff,  after  which  they 
were  sent  on  to  Tarnopol.  One  day  along  with  three 
Austrian  prisoners  a  German  deserter  was  led  up.  He  was 
obviously  Hebrew,  and  as  he  looked  very  frank  and  in- 
telligent, I  eagerly  asked  the  General's  permission  to 
engage  in  conversation  with  him.  It  appeared  that  he 
had  been  in  a  small  way  of  business  in  an  Alsatian  town, 
where  he  had  acted  as  a  censor  of  letters  till  he  was  called 
up  with  the  Landwehr.  He  told  me  that  he  had  a  sister 
in  America  and  another  married  to  a  Frenchman  in  Paris. 
Finding  that  his  English  was  better  than  my  German  I 
spoke  with  him  in  that  tongue  after  talking  about  America 
(although  without  any  such  intent)  in  a  way  that  had  led 
him  to  suppose  that  I  was  a  United  States  citizen.  He 
admitted  that  the  French  were  doing  well  (August  20th) 
in  Alsace  and  in  Arras,  but  that  in  Argonne  and  Bois-le- 
Pretre  they  were  stationary.  The  Germans  had  become 
suspicious  of  Alsatian  loyalty  generally,  and  all  Alsatian 
combatants  had  been  sent  to  the  Eastern  front.  I  asked 
him  as  to  the  character  of  his  regiment,  and  he  said  that 
it  was  composed  of  men  drawn  from  various  regiments, 
ranging  in  age   from   eighteen  to   forty-five,   many  of 


148       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

whom  had  been  previously  wounded  ;  there  was  abso- 
lutely no  camaraderie  or  esprit  de  corps.  I  sought  to  find 
out  why  he  had  deserted.  He  stated  that  he  had  become 
convinced  that  the  Germans  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him 
because  he  was  a  Jew.  I  asked  him  how  he  came  to  form 
that  impression.  He  said  that  he  was  an  "  under- 
officer,"  and  that  three  out  of  four  on  his  patrol  were 
Alsatians.  He  had  arrived  at  the  front  on  Sunday  (I 
was  speaking  with  him  on  the  Wednesday  following), 
and  had  been  detailed  for  duty  that  evening  with  his 
patrol  at  what  was  regarded  as  a  dangerous  point  op- 
posite the  Russian  lines.  On  Monday  he  should  have 
been  relieved,  but  was  again  detailed  for  the  same  duty. 
On  Tuesday  his  captain  told  him  that  there  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  ford  near  that  point,  and  that  he  must  find 
out  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the  river  there  that  evening  ; 
further,  if  his  men  were  afraid  to  follow  him,  he  must 
carry  out  the  undertaking  alone.  This  seemed  rather  a 
hard  saying,  and  I  asked  if  he  really  meant  to  say  that  a 
German  officer  had  suggested  that  his  men  might  refuse 
to  obey  an  order.  He  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  said, 
"  That  was  the  way  in  which  he  put  it,  making  me  feel 
that  they  wanted  to  get  rid  of  me  at  any  cost,  so  I  just 
made  my  way  across  the  river  in  the  dark  and  into  the 
Russian  lines."  I  asked  him  how  it  was  that  Germany 
had  come  into  conflict  with  Russia.  He  replied,  "  Russia 
was  becoming  too  strong  for  us.  In  four  years  she  would 
have  begun  on  us,  and  so  we  decided  to  begin  on  her." 
I  enquired  about  the  present  feeling  in  Germany  over 
the  war.  His  answer  was  :  "  In  the  beginning,  the  people 
were  enthusiastically  with  the  Government  and  wanted 
the  war  ;  they  want  it  now  no  longer  ;  to-day  they  feel 
only  a  great  need  of  peace.  But  then  to-day  they  have 
less  power  than  they  had  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
Every  victory  is  used  by  the  military  party  to  put  the 
screw  more  firmly  on  the  people.  The  Social  Democrats 
are  called  traitors  because  they  say,  '  Is  it  not  enough  ?  ' 


WITH    THREE    AUSTRIAN     PRISONERS    A    GERMAN     DESERTER. 


COMPANY    RETURNING    FROM    THE   TRENCHES    TO    THE    VILLAGE. 


ON  THE   GALICIAN  FRONT  149 

The  only  way  in  which  the  military  party  can  be  over- 
come is  by  Germany  being  beaten  in  the  field, — then  only 
can  the  people  say,  '  You  made  the  war,  and  we  don't 
want  your  Government  any  longer,' — but  I  do  not  see  how 
it  can  be  done."  I  spoke  with  him  about  economic  dis- 
tress. He  admitted  that  the  prices  of  all  articles  had 
gone  up  on  an  average  50  per  cent,  "  but  our  Govern- 
ment has  planned  so  well  in  advance  and  organised  on 
such  a  scale  that  there  is  really  no  vital  shortage  of  any- 
thing, and  only  of  cotton  and  copper  to  some  extent. 
Copper  in  some  considerable  amount  we  can  get  from 
Sweden."  I  asked  him  what  the  German  people  felt 
about  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania — if  they  were  proud 
of  the  feat.  He  said,  "  The  Germans  are  not  a  seafaring 
people  like  the  English,  and  they  cannot  realise  what  the 
loss  of  a  great  steamer  means."  "Oh,"  I  replied,  "I 
am  not  thinking  about  the  loss  of  the  steamer  ;  I  am 
thinking  about  the  loss  of  human  life."  "  Human  lives 
count  for  nothing  in  Germany,"  he  answered.  "  But  how 
about  my  fellow-countrymen  who  were  on  board  ?  "  I 
asked,  in  keeping  with  his  view  of  my  nationality.  "  Ah, 
they  were  warned,"  he  said ;  "  they  had  no  right  to 
travel  by  that  boat."  I  asked  if  there  was  still  the  same 
intensity  of  hatred  against  the  British  nation.  He  said 
that  the  public  use  on  poster  or  by  rubber  stamp  on 
letters  of  the  expression  "  Gott  strafe  England  "  had  been 
forbidden  by  law  ;  "  what  we  say  now  is,  '  Gott  schiitze 
Deutschland.'  "  He  blamed  the  Crown  Prince  for  the 
war,  and  said  the  Emperor  was  against  it.  He  added 
that  the  German  army  was  being  supplied  with  helmets 
of  tin  because  of  the  scarcity  of  leather.  The  Kuban 
Cossack  officer  now  stepped  up  and  offered  him  cigarettes. 
Almost  every  day  one  or  two  of  the  peasants  in  the  locality 
were  marched  up  to  the  front  door  by  soldiers  who  had 
taken  them  for  spies.  They  were  subjected  to  a  severe 
examination  as  to  their  movements  and  the  meaning  of 
questions  they  had  asked  by  a  young  colonel  on  the  Staff, 


150       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

and  more  than  once  I  have  seen  these  men  pleading  as 
they  believed  for  their  lives,  and  so  transformed  into  most 
eloquent  and  persuasive  orators.  The  young  colonel  who 
had  told  me  that  the  soldiers  were  afflicted  with  a  sort 
of  spy  mania,  and  were  inclined  to  arrest  any  peasant 
that  asked  them  perfectly  innocent  questions,  did  not 
usually  take  long  to  make  up  his  mind,  and  all  the 
peasants  that  I  saw  brought  in,  went  off  with  happy 
faces. 

It  is  a  day  like  most  of  the  other  days,  sombre  with 
rain.  Towards  evening  the  downpour  ceases,  but  the 
atmosphere  is  saturated  with  a  chill  dampness  which 
condenses  into  a  thick  mist.  We  start  off  towards  six 
to  make  for  the  first  line  trenches  at  the  narrowest  part 
of  the  valley.  We  drive  out  of  the  village  and  then, 
after  traversing  familiar  ground,  passing  along  dales  and 
skirting  woods  whose  taller  trees  keep  sentinel  over  the 
others,  we  go  a  long  way  over  open  ground,  yet  seeing 
nothing  as  fresh  thick  mists  all  the  time  come  rolling  up 
from  the  direction  of  the  valley  where  the  opposing 
forces  lie.  It  seems  a  good  night  for  a  surprise  attack, — 
and  also  for  a  successful  defence.  The  track  becomes 
thicker  and  thicker  with  slush,  and  the  wheels  of  the 
victoria  sink  more  deeply  with  the  peculiar  swishing 
sound  of  progress  in  water  at  every  yard.  Suddenly  we 
turn  sharply  into  a  young  wood  and  begin  to  descend 
very  rapidly  ;  the  track  narrows  and  the  scrub  closes  in, 
till  advance  of  that  kind  becomes  impossible  and  we  must 
walk.  Once  or  twice  we  meet  a  cartload  of  peasants 
emerging  abruptly  out  of  the  gloom  on  a  track  where 
vehicles  were  never  meant  to  pass  one  another.  There  is 
as  yet  a  deep  silence  disturbed  only  at  one  moment  by  the 
howl  of  a  dog.  After  a  time  we  get  to  the  bottom  of  the 
descent,  and  as  the  mist  has  now  begun  to  clear  off,  we 
can  see  that  we  are  driving  along  a  glade  on  the  right 
of  which  is  a  forest  of  pine  trees.    Presently  the  sound 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  151 

of  voices  and  of  laughter  is  audible,  and  lights  begin  to 
blaze  among  the  trees.  We  continue  to  drive  on  and 
soon  are  abreast  of  great  camp  fires  from  which  sparks 
fly  up  in  showers  ;  around  the  fires  stand  or  sit  knots  of 
men.  We  drive  on  down  the  line,  and  from  one  point 
come  the  sounds  of  merriment,  and  later  from  another 
in  most  exquisite  harmony  the  rising  and  falling  cadences 
of  evensong,  with  the  recurrent  phrase,  "  Gospodi 
pomilui  "  (0  Lord,  have  mercy).  For  a  moment  we  wait 
at  the  regimental  headquarters  ;  under  a  large  oak  stand 
a  couch,  a  plain  table  with  two  candles,  and  several 
chairs.  Each  of  the  officers  brings  a  small  contribution 
to  the  lightest  of  five-minute  repasts,  one  of  them  pro- 
ducing his  last  box  of  chocolates — of  English  make.  Then 
after  a  little  conversation  we  leave  these  resting  battalions 
and  start  off  with  the  colonel  for  the  first  line.  The  road 
is  wretched — a  side  track.  We  reach  a  point  after  which 
the  low  rumble  of  guns  is  heard.  The  mist  comes  on 
again,  and  out  of  it  step  companies  making  the  night 
shift,  or  the  field  kitchens  returning  after  supplying  the 
evening  meal,  or  the  searchlight  going  to  the  lines. 
Sometimes  stray  individuals  loom  up  and  pass  on.  But 
whoever  passes  is  challenged  by  the  colonel  and  com- 
pelled to  give  an  account  of  himself.  "  Dirje  na  prava  " 
("  Take  to  the  right  ")  shouts  the  soldier  driver  to  some 
peasants  with  telyegas,  moving  them  over  to  the  wrong 
side  of  the  track  which  descends  suddenly  at  that  point 
to  a  lower  level.  But  even  such  choice  by  compulsion  of 
the  best  side  fails  to  provide  any  going  at  all,  for  we  are 
continually  driving  through  the  thickest  mud  or  water, 
and  so  we  get  out  and  grope  along  in  the  dark.  A  soldier 
leads  the  way,  then  the  General,  then  another  soldier, 
then  the  colonel  and  others  follow. 

It  was  so  dark  that  the  man  immediately  in  front  was 
alone  visible.  We  had  no  light  from  above  or  from  below  : 
to  pick  one's  steps  was  impossible.  It  seemed  as  if  we 
were  going  down  an  open  unwooded  valley  leading,  as 


152       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

we  learned,  again  into  the  valley  of  the  Zlotaya  Lipa. 
The  sides  of  the  entering  valley  rose  some  hundreds  of 
feet  in  height,  and  we  followed  it  certainly  for  more  than 
a  mile.  And  all  the  time  the  sound  of  firing  became 
clearer  and  more  clear,  until  in  the  end  you  could  dis- 
tinguish the  discharge  of  a  rifle,  the  swish  of  the  bullet, 
and  the  smack  on  some  discovered  target,  or  a  sound  like 
a  continuous  Chinese  cracker — maxim  guns  spitting  out 
death  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill  to  the  right.  The 
situation  thus  conveyed  through  the  ear  alone  becomes 
dimly  illuminated  as  flares  go  up  beyond  the  rising  ground 
which  stands  silhouetted  on  either  side.  It  is  a  signal  for  an 
intensification  of  firing  which  is  sustained  and  then  as 
suddenly  ceases,  to  be  followed  by  wild  cheering.  Then 
there  is  a  momentous  silence,  and  we  resume  our  way  in 
the  dark. 

The  road  seems  to  improve  and  we  enter  a  hamlet. 
The  cottages  with  their  white  walls  stand  up  ghostlike 
in  the  chill  night ;  not  a  light  is  visible,  not  a  sound  can 
be  heard.  It  is  as  if  deserted.  The  soldier  who  is  leading 
stops  and  with  his  hand  indicates  holes  to  be  avoided, 
made  that  day  in  the  road  by  shells.  And  now  the  rattle 
of  musketry  on  the  left,  which  has  been  unceasing  in 
frequency,  seems  unpleasantly  near.  We  are  evidently 
close  to  the  point  where  our  tributary  valley  finally  falls 
into  the  main  valley.  Perhaps  it  is  just  because  each 
army  is  holding  either  side  of  a  deep  and  narrow  valley 
that  every  sound  seems  to  awaken  a  sort  of  echo.  Ahead 
rise  three  enormous  vaulted  greyish  walls,  perhaps  of 
some  factory  near  the  hamlet,  but  as  we  approach  nearer 
the  grey  walls  literally  vanish  into  space,  and  the  reality 
is  seen  to  be  the  dark  arches  of  a  railway  viaduct  crossing 
the  debouching  valley  and  the  road  in  front  of  us. 
We  turn  abruptly  to  the  right  at  the  end  of  the  hamlet 
and  proceed  very  cautiously,  admirably  protected  by 
the  railway  embankment  on  our  left  between  us  and  the 
direction  of  the  enemy.    We  come  to  a  field  telephone, 


ON  THE  GALICIAN  FRONT  153 

where  the  colonel  gets  a  report  of  the  activity  over  the 
hill  on  our  right.  All  this  time  the  embankment  has 
been  becoming  relatively  lower  as  we  rise  up  the  side  of 
the  entrant  valley.  Then  a  point  is  reached  where  each 
of  us  climbs  up  in  turn,  slips  across  the  railway  and 
descends  on  the  other  side  in  to  the  entrance  of  the 
communication  trench.  In  this  particular  way  the 
trench  can  only  be  reached  at  night. 

The  communication  trench  pursues  a  very  devious  course ; 
it  is  exceedingly  narrow  and  fully  eight  feet  deep  at 
parts,  for  it  descends  the  sides  of  the  valley  of  the  Zlotaya 
Lipa,  and  leads  into  a  line  of  trenches  that  follows  the 
river  closely  for  some  five  versts. 

So  far  as  one  could  judge  in  the  darkness,  this  line  of 
trenches  was  very  strongly  made.  It  took  the  form  of  a 
linear  series  of  well-protected  recesses,  loop-holed  and 
with  a  straw-covered  bench-like  support,  cut  out  in  the 
clay,  on  which  a  man  could  lie  out  at  length  or  two  of 
them  kneel  as  they  handled  their  rifles.  These  were 
connected  by  the  passage  way  provided  with  metal 
head- cover  against  shrapnel  and  bombs.  In  each  loop- 
hole rested  a  rifle.  In  the  darkness  it  was  difficult  to 
make  out  anything,  and  possibly  the  sentries  standing  at 
intervals  on  the  ground  behind  the  trenches  and  over- 
looking them,  would  not  stand  out  so  sharply  against  the 
side  of  the  valley  as  they  did  looking  up  at  them  from 
the  depths  of  the  trench.  Iu  each  of  the  recesses  men 
stood  at  attention,  ghostlike  and  motionless.  A  few  days 
before,  I  had  passed  along  the  narrow  passages  of  the 
Catacombs  of  St.  Anthony  in  Kiev.  There  in  the  niches 
lay  the  dead  who  are  alive.  Here  in  the  recesses  stood 
as  motionless  the  living  who  were  prepared  to  die.  A 
certain  proportion  of  the  troops  were  down  under  cover 
by  the  river's  side,  less  than  a  hundred  yards  in  front,  to 
prepare  against  a  surprise  attack.  The  mist  came  up 
once  again,  and  the  cannonade  became  more  and  more 
desultory  for  a  while  ;    then  as  suddenly  it  livened  up 


154       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

again  for  no  reason  that  we  could  discern,  unless  it  were 
simply  to  worry  the  defence.  And  so  we  stayed  and 
watched  and  listened,  until  some  faint  streaks  in  the  east 
betokened  the  return  of  another  day,  and  we  moved  off 
ere  it  became  too  dangerous  to  do  so  by  the  route  by  which 
we  came. 


THEME  V 

THE  FUTURE  OF  POLAND 


THEME  V 

THE  FUTURE    OF  POLAND 

THE  fact  that  both  the  Russian  and  the  German 
Emperors  have  held  out  hopes  for  a  united  Poland 
suggests  that  even  now,  within  certain  limits,  the  con- 
sideration of  the  future  of  that  country  is  a  subject  of 
practicable  interest,  whatever  the  relative  value  that  we 
may  be  inclined  to  attach  to  the  manifestoes  in  question. 
From  the  record  of  her  history,  at  once  so  romantic  and 
so  tragic,  features  stand  out  that,  in  the  degree  in  which 
the  causes  producing  them  are  still  operative,  will  be  to 
a  large  degree  determinative  of  that  future.  In  the  first 
place,  the  earliest  stages  of  Russian  and  of  Polish  history 
show  no  fundamental  antagonism  in  religious,  political, 
or  economic  outlook  and  organisation,  so  far  as  these 
were  then  developed.  There  are,  therefore,  no  inherent 
and  ultimately  irreducible  points  of  difference  between 
these  two  peoples  that  must  permanently  hinder  a  mutual 
understanding  between  them.  The  situation  is  quite 
otherwise  as  between  Germany  and  Poland.  In  the  second 
place,  time  and  again,  the  chance  of  national  salvation 
which  was  almost  won  by  the  heroism  of  the  sword  was 
sacrificed  through  the  inability  of  the  Poles  to  hold 
together  as  a  united  people.  Whether  these  disruptive 
tendencies,  and  the  internal  disloyalties  that  have  played 
havoc  with  the  fortunes  of  the  country  in  the  past,  will 
be  transcended  hereafter  in  the  life  of  a  people  who  have 
passed  through  an  agony  which  exceeds  that  of  Belgium, 
is  a  consideration  of  momentous  character  so  far  as  the 
future  of  Poland  is  concerned. 

157 


158       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

In  view  of  the  first  of  these  two  features,  which  on 
a  priori  grounds  at  any  rate  indicates  the  direction  in 
which  the  happier  outlook  for  Poland  may  be  sought, 
it  is  important  to  ascertain  the  opinion  of  representative 
Poles  who  are  Russian  subjects.  Previous  to  the  meeting 
of  the  Duma  in  August  of  1915,  an  important  conference 
was  held  under  the  presidency  of  the  Prime  Minister 
between  six  Russian  and  as  many  Polish  representatives, 
in  order  to  try  and  reach  some  understanding  as  to  the 
lines  along  which  the  promised  measure  of  self-govern- 
ment should  be  given  to  Poland.  The  following  para- 
graphs represent  the  Polish  point  of  view  as  outlined  in 
conversation  to  the  writer  by  two  of  these  representatives. 
The  original  statement  was  under  the  circumstances 
sketchy,  though  developmentally  conceived  :  any  failure 
in  presentation  is  due  to  the  transcriber. 

"  Partitioning  of  Poland  began  as  long  ago  as  the 
twelfth  century.  The  first  important  feature,  however,  is 
the  alliance  of  a  reunited  Poland  with  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Lithuania  in  the  fourteenth  century  to  fight  the 
Prussians  who  were  creeping  round  on  the  north  and 
east,  and  exercising  economic  and  other  pressure  on  these 
States.  There  was  a  voluntary  union  of  these  two  States 
for  two  centuries  :  then  they  became  one  State,  so  far  as 
governmental  relations  are  concerned.  As  the  Poles  were 
the  more  cultured  of  the  two  peoples — for  many  of  their 
nobility 'had  been  educated  in  the  French  and  Italian 
Universities,  while  the  Lithuanian  nobility  was  unedu- 
cated, indeed  somewhat  barbarous  in  comparison, — the 
nobility  of  Lithuania  gradually  became  Polish.  The  mass 
of  the  people  remained  Lithuanians  (White  and  Little 
Russian).  Consequent  on  this  union,  two  policies  began 
to  be  developed  on  the  part  of  Poland.  One  was  con- 
cerned with  the  West,  and  took  the  form  of  a  tendency 
towards  intervention  in  Bohemia  and  Austria.  The 
Lithuanian  rulers,  on  the  other  hand,  had  their  own 
political  views,  and  latterly  their  troubles  in  the  East 


THE  FUTURE   OF  POLAND  159 

with  the  Tatars.  These  two  movements  were  parallel 
and  roughly  contemporaneous.  But  when  Bohemia  and 
the  adjacent  parts  came  more  under  the  German  in- 
fluence and  the  Lithuanian  nobility  became  more  power- 
ful, Polish  policy  turned  towards  the  East  :  the  Poles 
thought  of  themselves  as  an  outpost  of  Western  civilisa- 
tion fighting  the  East.  Now  all  these  States  reared  on  the 
borders  of  the  Western  world,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Hungary, 
etc.,  had  faults  in  their  constitution.  The  soil  of  these 
countries  was  not  yet  prepared  for  high  ideas  :  they  each 
lost  their  independence.  The  partition  of  Poland  took 
place  in  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  that  par- 
tition Russia  did  not  take  any  purely  Polish  States. 
Poland  proper  was  divided  between  Austria  and  Germany. 
Only  after  the  Napoleonic  Wars,  by  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  was  the  rest  of  Poland  added  to  Russia  with  its 
own  constitution,  diet,  army,  etc.  Those  Lithuanian 
provinces  which  went  under  Russian  rule  were  con- 
sidered Polish  for  the  reason  that  any  dominating  element 
in  the  country  was  Polish. 

"  Meanwhile  an  evolution  was  going  on  in  Central  and 
Eastern  Europe ;  it  took  the  form  of  the  resurrection  of 
small  nationalities.  The  Czech  nationality  had  practi- 
cally disappeared  in  the  seventeenth  century  :  it  was 
annihilated  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  Bohemia 
became  a  German  province.  The  feeling  of  nationality 
was  submerged.  After  the  French  Revolution  there  came 
a  democratisation  of  culture.  The  spread  of  culture  in- 
troduced the  national  sentiment  among  the  masses.  So 
from  among  the  mass  of  the  peasants  arose  a  new  people 
who  refused  to  accept  the  German  language  :  '  We  are 
Czechs  by  nationality,'  they  said.  The  rebirth  of  the 
nation  is  a  remarkable  episode.  It  is  the  fact  that  fifty 
intelligent  Czechs  founded  the  new  Czechish  movement 
and  nationality  :  all  the  others  were  simple  peasants. 
These  fifty  were  assembled  together  in  a  single  room  in 
a  house  at  a  meeting  which  is  now  historic,  and  at  which 


160       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

they  came  to  the  resolution  to  revive  their  nationality  : 
so  that  if  you  had  bombed  that  house  you  might  have 
extinguished  a  people.  That  beginning  had  important 
results,  and  a  strong  national  sentiment  arose  among  the 
younger  people.  About  seven  millions,  the  Czechs  have 
a  well-developed  national  feeling  :  they  are  one  of  the 
most  energetic  nationalities  in  commerce,  industry,  and 
especially  banking.  In  Croatia,  Bulgaria,  and  even  in 
Poland,  branches  of  the  Czech  banks  may  be  found  every- 
where. They  are  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  nationali- 
ties, like  the  Slavons,  Serbians,  and  Bulgarians.  That  kind 
of  movement  began  late  in  the  territory  of  ancient  Poland. 
It  appeared  in  Ruthenia  :  it  was  protected  by  the  Aus- 
trian Government  in  order  to  maintain  the  Austrian 
influence.  A  similar  movement  arose  also  in  Lithuania. 
The  development  of  national  feeling  among  the  masses 
of  the  people  produces  this  outstanding  result  that  they 
lose  the  nationality  of  the  dominant  classes  amongst 
them,  and  assume  again  their  own  nationality.  The 
country  where  that  movement  succeeds  most  takes 
on  more  and  more  the  character  given  by  the  masses  of 
the  population.  In  Lithuania  and  Ruthenia,  however, 
the  nobility  remained  Polish. 

"  But  between  Russia  and  Poland  not  only  is  there  the 
language  frontier,  but  there  is  also  '  the  frontier  of  faith.' 
Poland  is  Roman  Catholic  and  Russia  is  Greek  Church. 
There  are  certain  recognised  differences  in  doctrine — not 
very  great — between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Pro- 
testant. But  there  is  also  the  difference  of  civilisation 
between  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches. 
The  Roman  and  the  Byzantine  worlds  were  different  in 
their  conceptions  of  the  family,  of  life — of  everything. 
The  frontier  of  religion  is  much  more  important  than  the 
frontier  of  language.  A  country  where  the  mass  of  the 
population  is  Roman  Catholic  will  never  become  Russian. 
All  Lithuania  is  Roman  Catholic  ;  a  large  part  of  White 
Russia  is  Roman  Catholic  also.   They  are  the  descendants 


THE  FUTURE  OF  POLAND  161 

of  Lithuanian  and  Polish  colonists  converted  from  the 
Greek  Church.  All  this  part  that  is  Roman  Catholic  is  not 
Russian  because  the  Polish  faith  is  the  Catholic  faith. 
When  a  Roman  Catholic  living  on  the  borders  of  Poland 
gets  educated  he  becomes  a  Pole  and  not  a  Russian.  '  I 
am  of  Catholic  nationality,'  '  I  am  of  Polish  religion,' 
he  will  say,  when  you  ask  him  what  he  is,  without  any 
intention  of  referring  to  religion.  For  them  to  be  a  Pole 
and  to  be  a  Roman  Catholic  are  identical.  What  is  the 
position  between  Poland  and  Russia  in  the  East  ?  I 
cannot  answer.  The  frontier  will  be  decided  by  future 
history.  It  is  undecided  from  the  historical  point  of 
view.  From  the  political  point  of  view  we  say,  'Polish 
country  is  that  country  where  the  Polish-speaking  element 
is  predominant.'  The  Russians  say  that  Lithuania  is 
Russian,  but  that  is  nonsense  from  the  ethnographical 
and  religious  points  of  view.  This,  then,  is  the  compro- 
mise which  we  wish  to  make  with  Russia,  Let  that  be 
Polish  country  where  the  Polish-speaking  people  is  pre- 
dominant. That  is  accepted  so  far  as  the  Eastern  frontier 
is  concerned. 

"  The  mouth  of  the  Vistula  on  the  Baltic  is  Polish 
country  and  must  be  Polish.  It  is  Polish  ethnographic- 
ally  and  economically,  because  Dantzig  is  the  natural 
harbour  of  Poland,  and  commercially  Poland  must  have 
an  exit  to  the  sea.  And  strategically  she  must  have  it, 
because  the  long  German  arm  in  East  Prussia  will  other- 
wise continually  threaten  Poland.  There  will  always  be  an 
open  mouth,  so  to  speak,  whose  jaws  are  East  Prussia  and 
Silesia,  ready  to  swallow  Poland.  In  order  to  prevent  our 
being  so  swallowed  we  must  cut  something  away  from 
Germany.  To  save  the  existence  of  Poland  we  must 
destroy  the  existence  of  some  Germans  in  the  East.  There 
can  be  no  compromise  between  the  Poles  and  the  Ger- 
mans. With  Russia  there  is  a  possibility  of  compromise 
on  ethnographical  grounds,  and  on  moral  principles  ;  but 
with  Germany  there  is  no  possible  compromise,  because 


162        THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

they  say,  '  We  will  be  good  and  humane  to  you  if  you 
become  Germans.'  In  that  way  our  programme  is  Poland 
with  its  ethnographical  frontier  in  the  East,  and  including 
some  German  districts  in  the  North  and  West.  Many  of 
the  German-speaking  people  in  East  Prussia  had  Polish 
fathers  :  they  will  quickly  remember  that  they  were 
Poles.  So  we  hope  that  the  ethnographical  map  will 
show  many  more  Polish  people  in  East  Prussia  than  it 
does  at  present.  Without  any  use  of  violence  we  antici- 
pate that  these  people  will  remember  that  their  fathers 
spoke  Polish.  We  are  also  a  fertile  race,  and  will  soon 
make  up  any  deficiency  of  numbers  in  that  particular 
area.  In  all  there  are  already  22  million  Poles.  Dantzig 
is  an  almost  purely  German  town  just  now,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  150,000  :  when  it  belongs  to  Poland,  within 
fifteen  years  it  will  have  500,000  inhabitants,  and  be  one 
of  the  richest  towns  on  the  Baltic,  and  Polish  mainly  in 
its  population.  We  shall  treat  the  Germans  well.  No- 
body is  interested  to  keep  East  Prussia  for  Germany  :  let 
it  be  Polish.  We  want  the  Duchy  (or  Provinz)  of  Posen — 
Posen  of  Germany  :  it  must  be  given  to  Poland,  as  also 
Upper  Silesia  and  Western  Prussia  (West  Preussen). 

"  Of  East  Prussia  a  part — the  more  easterly — should 
be  Russia's,  and  a  part  ours.  Our  political  interests  are 
not  confined,  however,  to  Poland,  because  we  are  much 
interested  in  the  future  position  and  faith  of  the  Czechs 
(Bohemia).  If  Bohemia  is  eaten  up  by  Germany,  the 
danger  for  Poland  becomes  double.  The  future  of  the 
Czechs  is  really  as  important  to  us  as  it  is  to  Bohemia. 
So  we  must  enquire  what  the  faith  of  Bohemia  will  be. 
We  say  her  future  must  be  guaranteed.  To  give  her  to 
Germany  would  be  a  catastrophe  for  Poland. 

"  With  regard  to  the  Jews  in  Poland :  I  am  not  anti- 
Semitic  personally,  but  cannot  help  recognising  the  an- 
tagonism against  the  Jews.  In  Poland  the  Jews  pretend 
to  be  a  nation  by  themselves  :  they  have  a  different 
religion  and  also  a  different  language.    Their  language  is 


THE  FUTURE   OF  POLAND  163 

a  Swabian  dialect  of  German,  in  which  there  are  many 
Hebrew,  Polish,  and  Russian  words.  They  speak  of  '  Our 
Yiddish  literature,  Press,  theatres.'  They  say,  'We  want 
to  have  national  rights  in  Poland  ;  we  want  Yiddish 
schools  ;  we  want  Yiddish  spoken  in  the  courts,'  and  so 
on.  Now  the  Jews  form  15  per  cent  of  the  population  in 
Russian  Poland,  in  Prussian  Poland  under  1  per  cent,  in 
Austrian  Poland  about  7  per  cent.  If,  then,  the  people 
who  represent  in  the  whole  of  Poland  some  2,300,000  souls 
say,  '  We  are  a  different  nationality,  and  we  wish  to  have 
the  Polish  country  as  Jewish  as  it  is  Polish — we  are  part- 
ners in  the  possession  of  this  country,'  then  we  Poles  find 
that  we  do  not  own  our  own  country.  Everywhere  we 
seem  to  have  a  partner — Germans,  Russians,  Jews,  etc. ; 
all  are  partners.  So  we  say  to  the  Jew,  '  You  are  either 
a  Pole  or  a  foreigner,  and  as  a  foreigner  we  will  fight  you.' 
When  the  Czechs  fought  the  Germans  they  employed  a 
method  of  economic  boycott.  The  saying  in  Prussian 
Poland  is  that  the  Poles  employed  the  economic  boycott. 
When  the  Jews  declared  themselves  to  be  an  independent 
nationality,  with  a  view  to  becoming  partners  in  the 
country,  it  was  natural  that  a  national  struggle  should 
take  place,  and  it  took  the  usual  form  of  an  economic 
boycott.  It  was  a  national  struggle,  not  simply  an 
economic  boycott.  Chronologically  the  economic  boycott 
was  first  employed  by  the  Jews  against  the  Poles,  and  then 
the  Poles  took  it  up  against  the  Jews,  with  better  results. 
In  1906-1 907  it  was  employed  by  the  Jews  against  the  Poles. 
The  Polish  surgeons,  for  example,  lost  all  their  Jewish 
patients  in  a  few  months.  The  Poles  started  their  struggle 
in  1911  :  we  took  a  lesson  from  the  Jews,  and  beat  them 
at  their  own  game. 

"  The  greatest  danger  for  Poland's  national  existence 
is  the  Jew.  They  speak  a  German  dialect  which  goes  over 
very  easily  into  pure  German.  They  are  favourably  dis- 
posed to  Germany  :  they  are  channels  whereby  German 
influence  flows  into  the  country  :    they  become  German 


164       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

spies  and  agents.  Does  not  the  toleration  of  such  an 
element  become  a  national  crime  ?  It  is  suicide  :  we 
must  do  something  to  eliminate  them  from  the  country, 
and  let  those  who  remain  come  under  some  influence 
which  will  make  them  more  Polish. 

"  Anti- Jewish  laws  do  not  go  with  the  principle  of 
freedom.  We  have  no  wish  for  exceptional  laws.  We 
consider  that  in  all  countries  all  citizens  should  have 
equal  rights.  If  we  were  a  free  country  in  which  we  en- 
joyed full  freedom,  we  should  not  have  anti- Jewish  laws. 
We  should  have  full  liberty  to  do  anything  and  everything, 
and  have  no  desire  for  exceptional  laws.  But  we  live 
under  special  anti-Polish  laws  in  Germany  and  Russia  : 
we  are  very  limited  in  our  rights  of  citizens,  and  in  Russia 
there  are  very  severe  anti-Semitic  laws.1 

"  What  would  be  the  conditions  of  life  in  Russian 
Poland  when,  being  limited  in  our  own  Polish  rights  and 
having  in  Russia  strong  anti-Semitic  laws,  we  fought  for 
freedom  for  the  Jews,  for  their  full  rights  !  In  that  case 
they  become  privileged  in  relation  to  us.  Poland  would 
become  a  paradise  for  Russian  Jews,  and  they  would  all 
flock  to  us.  There  are  exceptional  laws  against  Poles  in 
Poland  and  against  Jews  in  Russia  :  there  must  logically 
be  exceptional  laws  against  the  Jews  in  Poland.  The 
schools  in  Poland  must  be  Polish,  and  Russians  can  have 
their  schools  if  they  wish.  But  the  Jews  must  be  under 
Polish  influence. 

"  We  want,  then,  a  common  Emperor,  a  common  im- 
perial parliament,  our  own  parliament  for  our  own 
internal  affairs,  a  common  foreign  policy,  army  and  navy, 
imperial  finance,  customs,  coinage,  and  stamps  :  but  the 
administration  of  the  Polish  post  offices  and  telegraph 
must  be  by  ourselves.  The  organisation  by  Russia  is 
unsatisfactory  to  the  Poles  :  it  is  not  on  a  sufficiently 
high  standard  for  our  needs.    We  want  our  Lord-Lieu- 

1  These  have  been  recently  modified  for  the  period  of  the  war,  at 
any  rate. 


THE  FUTURE  OF  POLAND  165 

tenant  nominated  by  the  Emperor  and  responsible  to 
him.  We  want  our  own  Diet,  which  will  make  laws  to  be 
sanctioned  only  by  the  Emperor.  The  administration 
of  all  justice  we  want  in  our  own  hands.  If  for  that  degree 
of  autonomy  the  Russians  demand  that  there  shall  be  a 
commercial  frontier  between  Poland  and  Russia,  then  we 
agree. 

"  Our  problem  is  closely  related  to  the  whole  problem 
of  South-East  Europe.  How  far  is  Britain  really  in- 
terested in  and  alive  to  it  ?  South-Eastern  Europe  is  an 
area  of  small  nationalities,  in  many  cases  peoples  of  a 
small  degree  of  culture,  so  that  they  cannot  compromise  ; 
they  do  not  understand  the  word.  Is  not  the  degree  in 
which  you  are  willing  to  compromise  an  indication  of  the 
grade  of  your  culture  ?  All  these  nations  are  ambitious  : 
they  are  all  of  them  fighting  races.  They  cannot  recon- 
cile their  ambitions.  From  the  ^Egean  to  the  Baltic  there 
are  100,000,000  people  of  eight  or  nine  nationalities, 
speaking  eight  or  nine  different  languages — Poles,  Ser- 
vians, Czechs,  Magyars,  Rumanians,  Bulgarians,  Greeks, 
Croatians,  Slavonians.  How  are  we  to  organise  this 
world  ?  Is  there  one  brain  that  understands  the  ques- 
tion and  can  organise  it  ?  If  not,  the  present,  so  far  as  we 
can  see,  is  only  the  beginning  of  wars  in  that  region  for 
over  fifty  years.  You  cannot  give  the  control  of  these 
countries  to  Germany  :  it  makes  her  too  strong.  Russia 
has  enough  to  do  to  control  her  own  Empire,  and  in  any 
case  the  Poles,  Czechs,  and  Magyars  are  more  cultured 
than  the  Russians.  Indeed  the  Russo -Polish  question 
would  lose  nine -tenths  of  its  difficulties  if  the  Russian 
people  were  of  equal  culture  with  the  Poles." 

To  much  of  the  above,  of  course,  it  could  not  be  ex- 
pected that  informed  Russian  opinion  would  give  a  whole- 
hearted assent.  It  may  be  true  to  say  that  the  average 
Pole  is  a  more  cultured  individual  than  the  average 
Russian  peasant,  but  it  is  not  a  difference  that  is  deter- 
minative amongst  the  classes  that  will  have  the  settle- 


166       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

ment  of  the  relations  between  these  peoples  ultimately  in 
their  hands.  Again,  the  appeal  to  history  is  bound  to  be 
rather  fatuous  so  far  as  the  territories  in  dispute  between 
Russia  and  Poland  are  concerned.  White  Russia  and 
Lithuania  practically  changed  hands  almost  every  cen- 
tury. Russian  and  Pole  alike  when  dealing  with  these 
lands  are  naturally  tempted  to  take  the  period  of  history 
that  suits  them  best,  so  that  on  historical  grounds  both 
parties  can  be  right.  From  the  historical  point  of  view 
nothing  can  be  strictly  decided  seeing  the  territories  have 
changed  hands  so  often.  The  Poles  once  had  Kiev  and 
Smolensk,  yet  their  most  extreme  advocates  do  not  sug- 
gest that  these  parts  should  be  included  in  a  reconstructed 
Poland.  In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
Polish  was  generally  spoken  in  Kiev  except  amongst  the 
people  :  now  of  course  all  classes  speak  Russian.  The 
history  even  of  East  Prussia  shows  that  it  was  a  Polish 
province,  which  came  to  be  held  by  the  Teutonic  knights 
who  were  vassals  to  the  King  of  Poland.  Brandenburg 
and  the  Elbe  country  were  also  once  upon  a  time  Slav 
lands,  but  no  Slav  makes  pretence  to  them  now.  South- 
East  Prussia  is  thoroughly  Prussianised  ;  it  is  really 
German.  The  Germans  can  well  be  held  to  have  a  claim 
to  it. 

A  much  more  practical  consideration  is  that  as  between 
Russia  and  Poland,  the  Polish  question  has  never  been 
so  well  placed  as  now  during  the  last  three  centuries. 
Promises  made  after  the  Russo-Japanese  War  were  not 
kept,  and  nothing  was  done.  It  has  been  urged  that  if, 
after  the  proclamation  issued  under  the  authority  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Nicholas  (which  was  not,  however,  drawn 
up  by  him)  the  Russian  Government  had  given  definite 
concessions — had  given  autonomy  even  during  the  war — 
tilings  would  have  gone  very  well,  and  the  Poles  would 
ultimately  have  been  satisfied  with  something  less. 
Nothing  was  done,  however;  on  the  contrary,  the  local 
authorities  in  some  instances  are  said  not  to  have  acted 


THE  FUTURE  OF  POLAND  167 

on  the  proclamation,  and  some  of  the  Poles  tended  to 
become  a  little  suspicious.  Yet  on  the  whole  to-day  the 
Russian  Poles  are  on  the  side  of  Russia  :  nine -tenths  of 
them  are  Russians  in  faith  and  hope.  There  is  a  positive 
enthusiasm  in  the  Russian  army  for  the  Poles.  The 
promises  made — and  none  was  more  definite  than  that 
conveyed  in  the  speech  of  the  Prime  Minister  to  the  Duma 
on  August  1st,  1915,  when  he  said,  "His  Majesty  the 
Emperor  has  deigned  to  authorise  me  to  announce  to  you, 
gentlemen  of  the  Duma,  that  His  Majesty  has  com- 
manded the  Council  of  Ministers  to  draft  a  Bill  to  confer 
upon  Poland  after  the  war  the  right  of  free  organisation 
of  her  national,  cultural,  and  economic  life  on  principles 
of  autonomy,  under  the  autocratic  sceptre  of  the  Russian 
rulers,  and  with  the  retention  of  a  single  Imperial 
Authority  " — are  regarded  as  a  debt  of  honour  of  the 
whole  country  even  more  than  of  the  Government.  As 
one  distinguished  publicist  put  it  to  me,  "  There  would 
be  a  revolution  in  Russia  if  she  did  not  keep  her  word  to 
Poland." 

The  whole  question  is  peculiarly  difficult,  and  is  com- 
plicated more  than  ever  as  the  result  of  the  most  recent 
turn  of  events.  For  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  a  con- 
ference of  Polish  representatives  was  held  to  discuss  the 
future  of  their  country.  This  was  attended  by  Poles 
from  Berlin  who  stoutly  insisted  that  Germany  would 
win  the  war.  Even  the  Prussian  Poles  dislike  Germany, 
and  were  sympathetic  with  Russia  in  spite  of  their  feeling 
that  Germany  would  win.  At  present  the  situation  is 
more  serious  because  since  the  evacuation  of  Poland  by 
the  Russians  the  German  Poles  may  tend  to  say,  "  We  told 
you  so,"  and  feel  that  they  are  in  a  worse  plight  now  than 
ever.  Nobody,  however,  knows  better  than  the  Germans 
that  their  occupation  of  Poland  is  temporary — it  comes 
out  even  in  their  local  orders, — and  we  return  in  con- 
clusion to  reconsider  moderate  Russian  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  future  of  that  country. 


168       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  formulated  thus  :  "  The  problem 
is  difficult,  but  it  can  be  solved  if  faced  by  men  starting 
from  two  premises — the  needs  of  imperial  Russia  and  the 
individuality  of  Poland.  Further,  certain  guiding  prin- 
ciples must  be  observed  all  the  way  through. 

"  (1)  The  partition  of  Poland  was  a  political  crime.  It 
was  the  work  of  the  bureaucracy,  not  of  the  Russian 
people.  Now  that  Poland  has  developed,  we  recognise 
the  duty  of  giving  her  what  she  asks  in  the  way  of 
self-government,  and  rights  of  language  and  religion. 
Considering  Poland  as  a  cultural  unity  which  cannot 
be  destroyed,  we  must  reconstruct  her  as  a  semi- 
independent  State  in  full  alliance  with  Russia. 

"  (2)  All  except  what  is  regarded  as  a  need  of  the 
Empire  is  to  be  considered  as  a  right  of  the  Poles. 
Restrictions,  that  is  to  say,  shall  only  arise  in  connec- 
tion with  questions  concerning  the  whole  Empire — 
diplomacy,  army,  fortresses,  trunk  railways,  and 
finance. 

"  (3)  Let  us  unify  and  federate  so  far  as  that  is  reason- 
ably possible.  A  proverb  indeed  says  that  '  the  Poles 
are  always  looking  to  the  forest,' — like  wolves  they 
cannot  be  tamed.  That  certainly  was  the  old  idea  of 
them,  expressed  in  the  view  that  they  would  never 
give  up  their  idea  of  the  old  Polish  kingdom,  from  sea 
to  sea — from  Mitau  and  Wilna  (Lithuania),  Vitebsk 
(White  Russia)  to  Podolsk  and  Kiev.  But  history  has 
decided  in  these  matters  for  Russia  as  against  Poland. 
When  the  Poles  fought  against  the  Russian  Tzars  they 
were  victorious,  but  when  they  fought  against  the 
Russian  people  and  their  religion  they  were  defeated. 
Poland  then  should  be  a  State  apart,  yet  reunited  in- 
dissolubly  to  Russia.  Psychological  reasons  and  con- 
siderations enter  into  the  necessity  for  an  independent 
kingdom,  but  economic  and  financial  questions  tend 


THE  FUTURE  OF  POLAND  169 

towards  her  having  a  large  measure  of  autonomy  rather 
than  being  apart.  From  the  economic  point  of  view  it 
would  be  more  useful  to  Russia  to  constitute  Poland 
an  independent  kingdom.  If  the  Poles  are  constituted 
as  an  independent  kingdom,  the  industrial  frontier  is 
then  between  Poland  and  Russia,  and  all  the  Russian 
industries  must  be  protected.  If  Poland  is  a  State  of 
Russia  there  will  be  no  frontier,  no  customs  :  so  for 
Russian  industry  it  would  be  better  to  have  Polish 
industry  apart.  If  after  the  war  armies  are  still  kept 
up,  Russia  will  be  obliged  to  have  a  large  one  at  the 
frontier.  If  it  is  kept  at  the  German  frontier  all  the 
profits  from  the  upkeep  of  that  army  will  go  to  the 
Poles.  If  Poland  is  a  State  apart,  all  the  money 
spent  in  this  way  (in  provisioning,  etc.)  will  remain 
amongst  the  Russian  population.  But  the  question  of 
international  politics  is  very  difficult.  If  Poland  is  to 
be  a  buffer  State,  and  it  is  possible  to  unite  the  Prussian 
part,  that  will  be  a  good  thing,  but  on  the  other  hand 
the  bulk  of  the  population  there  is  German,  so  that  it 
is  hardly  just  to  make  Poland  extend  to  the  Baltic. 

"  (4)  We  must  begin  to  decentralise.  Let  us  begin 
the  experiment  with  Poland,  for  she  is  an  individuality, 
and  we  shall  learn  better  how  to  deal  with  regions  like 
Siberia.  There  can  be  no  practical  work  in  a  Petrograd 
Duma  composed  of  representatives  of  these  and  all 
the  other  Russian  peoples  :  it  would  be  too  large. 
We  must  then  have  an  Imperial  Duma,  and  local 
Dumas  with  delegations  from  the  latter  to  the  former. 

"  (5)  Above  all,  and  finally,  this  is  a  Russo-Polish, 
and  not  an  international,  question." 


INTERLUDE 

GREAT  ELMS 


INTERLUDE 

GREAT   ELMS 

IT  lies  many  versts  away  from  the  railroad,  snuggling 
amongst  the  noble  old  trees  that  give  it  name.  The 
track  leads  out  through  the  village  which  happens  to  be 
nearer  the  railway  than  is  often  the  case  in  Russia,  and 
swings  easily  at  first  over  a  sweeping  plain,  partly  culti- 
vated, but  dotted  with  numerous  "  erratics,"  indicative 
of  some  glacial  period  in  the  past.  Mujiks  meet  us  and 
doff  their  caps  in  passing.  Is  it  because  they  have  lived 
for  centuries  on  these  far-horizoned  lands,  overarched 
by  an  even  greater  expanse  of  sky,  that  there  exists  such 
a  natural  sense  of  the  Infinite  in  the  Russian  peasant 
mind  ?  The  unbroken  surface  begins  to  lose  its  smooth- 
ness in  tree-clad  puckerings  and  risings.  The  landscape 
entirely  changes,  and  closes  in  upon  us.  Half-hidden 
from  the  high  road  in  a  grove,  the  outskirts  of  which  are 
in  part  delimited  by  a  white  stone  wall,  stands  a  stately 
mansion  :  it  is  Great  Elms. 

Into  its  construction  has  entered  in  a  peculiar  degree 
the  spacious  sympathetic  mind  of  the  diplomatist  whose 
home  it  is.  Egyptian,  Old  Russian,  and  Roman  rooms 
are  laid  out  and  decorated  in  the  atmosphere  and  setting 
of  these  civilisations.  But  better  far  than  to  speak  about 
the  prejudices  of  the  past  or  discuss  the  politics  of  the 
present,  was  to  hear  him  talk  about  his  greatest  friend, 
the  musician. 

From  the  columned  verandah  which  forms  in  part  the 
back  aspect  of  the  house,  a  broad  straight  path  leads 
down  through  the  elms,  and  ends  abruptly  on  a  terrace. 

173 


174       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

Beyond  lies  a  small  lake,  and  in  the  distance,  across  some 
open  land,  rise  woods  of  pine  and  birch,  whose  secret 
glades  and  springs  and  other  sylvan  charms  are  made 
discoverable  by  well-kept  paths  that  penetrate  to  their 
very  heart.  It  was  there  that  he  walked  and  spoke  of 
Skryabin.  His  difficulty  was  in  explaining  to  himself 
why  it  was  that  Skryabin,  a  man  in  the  full  glow  of 
perfect  vigour,  had  died  so  suddenly  at  the  early  age  of 
forty-three,  and  the  halting  answer  came  suffused  with 
that  haunting  mysticism  that  is  the  native  expression 
of  the  Russian  mind.  "  Skryabin,  you  must  know,  was 
developing  a  Mystery,  the  '  Preliminary  Action  '  to  which 
he  had  just  finished  when  he  died.  The  latter  is  a  poem 
as  profound  as  Faust,  which  will  be  edited  and  published 
in  the  course  of  this  winter.  The  music  for  it  was  only 
in  his  mind.  Not  more  than  three  people  have  heard  it, 
and  it  is  now  lost  except  for  a  few  fragments  that  he  had 
set  down  on  paper.  About  the  subject  of  the  Mystery  he 
spoke  only  two  or  three  times.  In  form  it  was  to  have 
been  a  religious  musical  liturgy,  in  which  all  the  arts  were 
to  be  combined.  There  were  to  be  two  thousand  execu- 
tants, but  no  spectators  ;  every  participant  was  to  have 
been  trained  into  it,  with  his  special  part.  A  person  lack- 
ing in  spiritual  comprehension  would  not  have  been 
allowed  to  assist.  Imagine  a  kind  of  church  in  which  not 
only  the  priest  has  his  distinctive  role,  but  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  congregation — that  is  what  it  would  have 
been  like.  Of  the  central  idea  of  the  Mystery  he  only 
spoke  with  the  same  three  friends.  It  was  not  altogether 
clear  and  concrete  in  his  own  mind,  and  I  can  say  no  more 
than  that  it  dealt  with  a  new  conception  of  life  after 
death.  For  people  who  are  not  prepared  to  take  his 
'  Prometheus '  as  a  spiritual  work,  all  this  of  course  must 
seem  like  some  ill-begotten  dream." 

We  had  come  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  found  our- 
selves immediately  on  the  lands  of  a  village  commune, 
bearing  grain  that  rose  in  places  above  our  heads.     A 


GREAT  ELMS  175 

track  through  it  led  to  the  village  lying  sheltered  in  a 
hollow.  Through  the  green  grain  some  distance  ahead 
of  us  moved  a  single  figure,  his  bright  red  rubashka 
blazing  in  the  sun,  like  a  human  poppy  waving  across  a 
field  of  corn.  In  the  village  street  were  many  women 
wearing  those  amazing  combinations  of  colour  in  ker- 
chief, skirt,  and  bodice  that  would  be  unimaginable  in 
this  country,  but  which  blend  in  some  mysterious  manner 
in  that  rich  sunlight.  One  has  often  wondered  whence 
the  Russian  people  have  got  their  highly  developed  sense 
of  colour  till  one  saw  again  the  deeply  tinted  sunsets, 
and  realised  that  a  responsive  people  who  had  lived  with 
them  for  centuries  could  not  have  failed  to  be  influenced 
thereby  in  their  racial  and  individual  innermost  being. 
Numbers  of  young  men  standing  about  the  village  showed 
that  Russia  was  still  far  from  the  end  of  her  resources  of 
manhood.  Yet  many  had  gone  off  to  the  war,  and  it  was 
not  seldom  that  a  wounded  soldier  found  his  way  up  to 
Great  Elms  to  thank  the  lady  of  the  house  in  person  for 
packages  of  comforts  that  he  and  his  fellows  from  that 
district  had  received  from  her  in  Poland  and  elsewhere. 

We  were  back  in  the  woods  again  before  my  friend 
resumed  his  discourse  upon  Skryabin.  "  Geniuses  are 
given  to  man  to  help  him  to  rise  ;  but  they  need  our 
support.  If  we  do  not  give  this  to  them,  they  pass  away. 
Skryabin  was  the  beautiful  flower  to  have  been  fully 
opened  if  we  had  proved  to  be  true  Crusaders,  but  when 
we  began  to  prove  traitors  to  the  new  ideology  with 
which  we  entered  upon  the  war,  he  was  taken  away.  Can 
you  realise  what  must  have  been  the  will-effort  towards 
righteousness  on  our  part  necessary  to  have  kept  such  a 
man  amongst  us  ?  The  same  thing  can  be  either  medicine 
or  poison  to  a  man  at  different  stages  of  his  fife  ;  so  is 
it  with  mystical  truth.  For  its  apprehension  a  certain 
state  of  psychical  ripeness  and  splendour  is  necessary. 
We  must  be  ripe  for  it,  otherwise  it  would  be  a  poison 
to  us.    The  conduct  of  the  war,  even  on  the  part  of  the 


176       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

Allies,  shows  that  man  was  not  yet  ripe.  Russia  was  un- 
able to  purify  herself  of  all  dishonesty.  Skryabin's 
revelation  would  have  been  poison  to  us  just  now  ;  so 
he  was  taken  away.  Someone  else  will  be  given  to  us 
when  we  are  ready,  but  not,  I  think,  in  our  generation. 
Our  generation  will  die  without  passing  into  the  new  and 
further  phase  of  domination  of  the  moral  over  the  purely 
natural,  in  which  we  should  have  been  able  to  accept 
what  Skryabin  would  have  given  us.  Latterly  he  became 
the  simplest  of  men  in  his  natural  habits  and  tastes,  as 
if  conscious  that  he  was  merely  a  medium.  '  In  vain, 
O  Author,  you  suppose  you  are  the  author  of  your  pro- 
ductions. Eternally  their  truths  have  been  around  us, 
and  you  are  only  the  instrument  by  which  they  passed 
into  our  understanding.'  "r 

We  had  come  back  to  the  house,  and  he  left  me  alone 
to  ponder  a  problem  of  the  ages,  not  altogether  convinced 
even  by  the  full  development  of  his  argument.  Without 
the  requisite  sensitivity  there  can  of  course  be  no  vision, 
but  in  what  degree  does  temperament  help  to  determine 
the  final  interpretation  ?  That  evening  from  a  sheltered 
vantage  on  the  roof,  which  gave  a  wide  outlook  on  the 
only  side  that  was  open,  a  struggle  seemed  in  process 
between  a  gigantic  thundercloud  rolling  up  from  the 
West  and  the  setting  sun.  Yet  as  the  envelopment  of 
the  sun  by  the  storm-cloud  was  only  seeming,  and  one's 
belief  in  the  soundness  and  solvency  of  Nature  begat 
faith  in  the  renewed  triumph  of  light,  so  it  seemed 
credible  that  the  present  victory  of  evil  was  not  absolute, 
and  that  the  goodness  in  the  world  would  be  afresh 
revealed  to  men. 

1  Alexei  Tolstoi, 


THEME   VI 

RELIGION   IN   RUSSIA  TO-DAY 


THEME   VI 

RELIGION   IN   RUSSIA   TO-DAY 

THE  Oriental  Orthodox  Church — for  the  designation 
"  Greek  Church  "  is  really  a  misnomer — has  a  his- 
tory which  perhaps  means  more  to  it  in  its  actual  con- 
sciousness of  to-day,  and  particularly  to  that  branch 
known  as  the  Russian  Church,  than  is  the  case  with  any 
other  branch  of  Christendom.  To  Jerusalem,  the  cradle 
of  Christianity,  there  succeeded  in  ecclesiastical  import- 
ance Constantinople,  the  centre  from  which  Northern 
Europe  was  evangelised.  When  Constantinople  fell  to 
the  Turks  in  1453,  the  deposit  of  the  Oriental  Orthodox 
Church  was  committed  to  a  country  that  had  been 
Christian  since  the  tenth  century,  where  it  has  since  been 
preserved  with  an  affection  and  in  a  purity  that  are  both 
vivid  elements  in  the  modern  Russian  religious  conscious- 
ness. Perhaps  it  is  in  the  Oriental  Orthodox  Church 
that  we  can  see  the  best  contemporaneous  representative 
of  the  Early  Christian  Church  of  the  first  three  centuries. 
At  any  rate,  it  has  conserved  without  alteration  the 
teaching  of  the  Apostles  and  the  decrees  of  the  Seven 
Ecumenical  Councils. 

The  greatest  event  in  the  history  of  this  Oriental 
Orthodox  Church  was  the  schism  with  Rome  under  the 
Patriarch  Photius  in  the  ninth  century.  Hereby,  in  the 
thought  of  the  cultured  Orthodox  Russian,  it  was  saved 
from  the  spiritual  despotism  and  the  dogmatic  and  dis- 
ciplinary innovations  of  its  rival,  from  those  alterations 
of  doctrine  and  waywardness  in  morals  that  produced 
the  fruitful  protest  of  the  sixteenth  century,  from  celibacy 

179 


180       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

of  the  priesthood  with  its  attendant  evils,  from  the  sacri- 
legious commerce  in  indulgences,  from  the  horrors  of  an 
Inquisition,  from  the  baneful  might  of  excommunication. 
The  Oriental  Orthodox  Church  has  never  monopolised 
the  Holy  Scriptures  for  its  profit,  nor  proclaimed  that 
to  it  alone  belonged  the  right  to  present  them  to  the 
faith  of  its  people.  It  places  their  authority  above  all 
else  ;  it  calls  upon  its  members  to  find  within  those  pages 
their  daily  food  and  sustenance.  "  To  be  the  pure  reflec- 
tion of  the  Word  of  God,"  says  Boissard,  attempting  to 
show  the  standpoint  of  the  Russian  Church,  "  that  is  for 
every  church  to  participate  in  its  infallibility."1  Broken 
up  to-day  into  more  than  a  dozen  different  bodies  and 
transformed  in  a  certain  measure,  it  still  stands  firmly 
upon  its  ancient  foundations,  and  will  stand.  To  traverse 
afresh  the  course  of  the  ages,  fixing  our  attentive  gaze 
upon  ancient  Kiev,  mother  of  all  the  towns  of  Russia,  or 
on  the  Holy  City  of  Moscow,  the  principal  centre  of  ortho- 
doxy ;  to  contemplate  with  mingled  reverence  and  admira- 
tion the  noble  traits  of  pastors  such  as  Cyril,  Nikon, 
Philip  Martyr,  Hermogenes,  and  Philaret,  or  of  pious 
ascetics  such  as  were  Anthony,  Theodosius,  Sergius,  and 
Sozimus,  or  of  princes  like  Vladimir  Monomachus, 
Alexander  Nevsky,  and  Michael  Romanov  ;  or  yet  of 
countless  martyrs  and  confessors,  both  men  and  women, 
of  every  age  and  condition — to  do  all  this  provides  not 
merely  an  entrancing  story,  but  is  necessary  to  the  com- 
plete understanding  of  what  one  sees  in  the  Russian 
Church  of  to-day.  But  that,  after  all,  the  actual  expres- 
sion of  the  religious  consciousness  is  the  principal  thing 
to  understand  ;  for  religious  Russia,  direct  though  her 
contact  be  with  the  past,  and  proud  of  it  as  she  always 
will  be,  does  not  altogether  live  there,  as  so  many  seem 
to  think.  "  There  is  no  book  on  the  Russian  Church," 
wrote  one  of  her  most  distinguished  sons  to  me  in  answer 
to  an  enquiry  ;  "  there  is  no  book  on  the  Russian  Church, 

1  L.  Boissard,  "  L'Eglise  de  Russie,"  Tome  I,  p.  10. 


RELIGION  IN   RUSSIA  TO-DAY  181 

because  our  Church  cannot  be  discussed  in  a  book. 
Better  than  from  any  book  will  you  understand  it  if  you 
go  to  such  a  religious  centre  as  the  Troitzko-Sergievskaya 
Lavra  (a  famous  pilgrim-frequented  monastery  near 
Moscow)  or  the  Kiev  Petcherskaya  (the  oldest  and  most 
highly  revered  monastery  in  Russia)  and  others,  especi- 
ally on  the  great  festivals,  or  even  if  you  go  to  our 
churches,  particularly  in  Lent." 

In  endeavouring  to  bring  out  that  which  the  Russian 
Church  means  to  the  best  of  her  people  and  what  they 
hope  for  from  her,  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  possible  to  do 
better  than  attempt  to  reproduce  parts  of  conversations 
to  which  I  certainly  owe  much.  The  speaker  is  now  an 
old  man,  and  a  layman  holding  high  office  in  connection 
with  the  Holy  Synod.  He  began  by  correcting  wrong 
impressions.  "  You  must  know,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
Emperor  is  the  protector,  but  not  the  head,  of  the  Russian 
Greek  Church.  The  head  of  the  Church  is  our  Lord." 
In  his  development  of  this  point  I  came  to  see  that  the 
views  of  the  Oriental  Orthodox  Church  and  of  the  United 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  were  practically  one,  and  that 
the  opinion  ordinarily  held  in  this  country  of  the  relation 
of  the  Emperor  to  the  Russian  Church  would  be  blasphemy 
to  the  true  orthodox  believer.  "  That  is  the  great  dis- 
tinction between  us  and  the  Romans,"  continued  my 
friend.  "  There  is  no  necessity  to  have  a  head  of  the 
Church  upon  earth  when  we  have  such  a  Head  in  heaven. 
Again,  the  Greek  Church  is  the  dominating  Church,  but 
it  is  not  the  State  Church.  We  do  not  use  the  term 
'  State  Church,'  because  we  do  not  have  the  thing.  We 
speak  about  the  Gospodstvoyustchaya  Tzerkov — the 
'  dominating,'  the  predominant  Church.  But  in  that 
description  there  is  nothing  juridical,  simply  a  statement 
of  fact." 

Of  these  talks,  of  which  I  had  two  or  three,  what  lingers 
chiefly  in  my  memory  were  animated  passages  in  which 
he  strove  to  show  what  in  great  measure  we  had  lost. 


182       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

And  it  is  just  here  that  the  Russian  Church  has  most  to 
teach  us,  owing  to  the  deep  mysticism  of  her  most  de- 
voted sons,  and  the  ingrained  certainty  in  practically  every 
Russian  mind  that  there  is  a  great  deal  more  in  the  world 
than  shall  ever  be  compassed  by  measuring-rod  or  test- 
tube,  the  unremitting  sureness  that  we  are  wrapped  about 
by  a  spiritual  world  which  is  the  real  world.  "  Ah,  the 
Communion  of  Saints,"  said  my  friend ;  "  how  real  and 
precious  that  is  to  us,  to-day  more  than  ever  !  I  think 
that  you  have  just  a  little  lost  the  sense  of  it  in  Protes- 
tantism, and  that  the  spiritual  world  perhaps  seems  more 
remote  to  you  than  it  is  to  us.  The  living  and  most 
patent  example  and  proof  of  the  vitality  amongst  us  of 
this  feeling  of  the  nearness  of  the  spiritual  world  are  the 
periodical  beatification  and  canonisation  of  new  saints." 
On  enquiry  as  to  who  were  the  most  remarkable  of  those 
to  whom  the  hearts  of  believers  had  thus  gone  out,  the 
following  names  were  given  amongst  others  :  St.  Mitro- 
phane  of  Voronesh,  who  lived  under  Peter  the  Great  and 
was  canonised  in  the  reign  of  Nicholas  I  in  the  fifth 
decade  of  last  century  ;  St.  Tikhon  of  Zadonsk  in  the 
province  of  Voronesh,  who  lived  under  Catherine  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  was  canonised 
fifty  years  ago  ;  and  more  recently,  during  the  present 
Emperor's  reign  in  1903,  St.  Seraphim  of  Sarov,  in  the 
Government  of  Tamboff  (died  1833),  who  is  said  to  have 
foretold  the  present  war.  Others  include  St.  Joasaph  of 
Byelgorod  (died  1754),  who  was  canonised  in  1911  ; 
St.  Peterim,  a  monk  who  died  100  years  ago  ;  and  St. 
Hermogenes,  Patriarch  of  Moscow,  who  was  martyred  by 
the  Poles  in  the  Tchudov  monastery  in  1612  ;  his  canoni- 
sation took  place  in  1913. 

It  is  probable  that  to  many  Western  minds  all  this 
represents  but  so  much  superstition.  Such  a  hasty  judg- 
ment would  be  of  the  same  qualitative  value  as  super- 
stition. It  was  impossible  not  to  proceed  farther  in 
enquiry  as  to  process.     "  The  rules,"  continued  my  in- 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  183 

formant,  "  under  which  such  canonisations  take  place 
are  severe.  A  register  is  made  of  any  cures  and  miracles  ; 
they  are  written  down  and  kept  by  the  local  clergy.  If 
these  occur  in  striking  numbers,  or  in  an  unusual  degree, 
the  local  clergy  apply  to  the  Holy  Synod  for  canonisation. 
But  parallel  to  this  outward  working  of  miracles  an  inward 
movement  is  going  on.  People  who  hold  these  saints  in 
veneration  go  to  their  tombs  and  pray  for  the  soul  of  the 
saint,  asking  our  Lord  that  his  soul  should  be  blessed. 
This  is  done  during  many  years  :  the  believers  continue 
to  hold  these  requiems  (panichida).  The  fact  that  so 
many  come  and  do  this  through  long  years  assures  the 
higher  clergy  of  the  veneration  in  which  the  man  is  held. 
These  two  circumstances  eventually  determine  the  Holy 
Synod  to  make  a  strict  examination  on  their  own  account. 
A  commission  is  then  appointed,  whose  business  is  to  make 
thorough  investigation,  and  ascertain  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  way  of  fraud.  An  advocatus  diaboli  is  given  the 
fullest  rein,  and  only  after  the  most  critical  investigation 
and  full  discussion  is  the  decision  made.  Thus  we  ensure 
that  there  is  no  fabrication  of  saints.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  one  day  Father  John  of  Kronstadt  will  be  canonised  : 
men  and  women  never  cease  to  pray  at  his  tomb."  So  he 
spoke.  I  do  not  know  if  St.  Mitrophane  actually  did  this 
or  that,  or  whether  any  proportion  of  the  stories  of  St. 
Seraphim  are  true,  but  I  do  know  that  in  the  Russia  of 
to-day  there  is  a  great  belief  that  God  is  working  in  the 
world  both  through  His  servants  who  still  remain  and 
through  those  whom  He  has  taken  to  Himself.  There  is 
an  attitude  of  expectancy,  a  sense  of  wonder,  in  the 
Russian  mind.  He  believes  in  God  with  a  working  belief, 
and  looks  for  signs  of  His  activity  in  the  world  :  and  just 
as  to  the  expectant  shepherds  watching  by  their  flocks 
angels  appeared,  so  to  the  humble  believing  Russian 
peasant  come  great  certainties  of  God.  We  do  not 
expect,  and  so  we  do  not  receive.  We  are  too  sure  that 
we  know  exactly  what  kind  of  a  world  it  is  in  which  we 


184       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

find  ourselves,  and  vision  dies  amongst  us.  It  is  just 
here  that  our  Ally  has  a  message  and  a  mission  to  the 
world. 

Further,  they  realise  how  close  they  are  to  Protestant 
Britain,  even  with  that  long  history  of  separation.  "  Have 
you  not  often  considered,"  continued  my  friend,  "  that 
what  is  common  to  all  forms  of  the  Christian  faith  is 
ninety-nine  per  cent,  and  what  is  different  is  but  one  per 
cent  ?  Is  it  not  " — and  here  he  leaned  forward  earnestly 
— "  you  will  excuse  me,  but  I  feel  it  so — is  it  not  the  hand 
of  the  Devil  himself  that  makes  trifles  appear  in  our  eyes 
as  important  matters,  and  puts  serious  differences  be- 
tween us  and  Rome,  when  the  importance  of  union  is  so 
much  greater  than  any  or  all  of  our  differences  ?  We 
understand  the  Protestant  opposition  to  Rome  :  Rome 
has  deserved  it.  We  only  feel  our  regret  that  Protestants 
as  a  whole  in  the  time  of  Hus  did  not  renew  their  memory 
of  the  fact  that  there  exists  another  old  Church.  Hus, 
indeed,  tried  to  bring  about  such  a  reunion,  sending  his 
friend  Jeronym  of  Prague  to  Russia  with  a  view  to  bring- 
ing his  own  people  back  to  the  Greek  Church.  Rome 
seceded  from  us.  Protestantism  stands  on  the  basis  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  has  lost  the  tradition,  whereas 
we  have  both.  We  are  descended  from  the  Church  of  the 
Ecumenical  Councils." 

Then  he  continued  :  "  Inter-ecclesiastical  history  is 
much  more  important  than  international  history,  because 
the  life  of  nations  is  limited  to  this  earth,  whereas  a 
Church  is  a  body  constituted  both  on  earth  and  in 
heaven.  I  often  think  about  the  question  of  reunion. 
It  will  come  first  between  the  Greek  Church  and  Protes- 
tantism, not  between  Rome  and  the  Greek  Church. 
Churches  like  the  Anglican  Church  and  the  Greek  Church 
have  more  psychological  affinity  with  one  another  than 
with  Rome.  Rome  is  based  on  subordination,  whereas 
the  Eastern  Church  is  based  on  co-ordination.  The 
Church  of  Rome  is  a  monarchy  and  a  despotism,  whereas 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  185 

the  Greek  Church  is  a  federation  of  fourteen  different 
Churches,  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  republic.  In  this  matter 
of  union  no  Church  should  be  asked  to  cede  something  to 
the  other.  They  must  endeavour  to  recognise  one  another 
as  perfectly  orthodox,  as  true,  i.e.,  to  Scripture  and  to 
the  spirit  of  the  teachings  of  the  Seven  Ecumenical 
Councils. 

"  Humanity  has  been — is — going  through  awful  experi- 
ences. Is  not  this  a  miracle,  that  the  German  philosophy 
and  the  whole  German  spirit  have  brought  that  country 
under  the  sway  of  Beelzebub  ?  Yet  in  our  land  there  is  a 
great  revival  of  religious  interest  to-day.  Russia  was 
under  the  French  influence  of  Voltaire  till  1812  :  then  in 
a  struggle  Napoleon  was  vanquished,  and  the  result  was 
a  widespread  religious  movement.  We  were  again  be- 
coming materialistic  when  the  Japanese  War  and  the 
revolution  after  the  war  shook  us  from  our  spiritual  tor- 
por, and  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  was  quickened. 
The  same  is  happening  at  the  present  moment.  From  the 
court  to  the  peasant's  hut  a  spiritual  movement  is  in 
progress." 

If  now  the  question  be  asked,  How  is  this  religious 
consciousness  expressing  itself  in  Russia  to-day  ?  I  do 
not  think  that  the  answer  will  be  found  to  differ  so  very 
much  from  the  kind  of  answer  that  could  be  truly  given 
in  connection  with  our  own  country.  The  religious  life 
of  Russia  has  assuredly  been  deepened  by  the  war.  Men 
are  face  to  face  with  the  realities  of  life  and  death  in  a 
degree  that  compels  them  to  think.  The  needs  of  the 
hour  are  driving  men  and  women  to  pray.  Far  more 
people  are  seen  in  the  churches.  I  recollect  in  particular 
a  service  in  the  Temple  of  the  Redeemer  in  Moscow,  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  churches  in  all  Russia.  It  is  a 
church  of  the  people,  and  was  crowded.  What  impressed 
me  was  the  very  large  number  of  men,  particularly  of 
wounded  soldiers.  They  must  have  outnumbered  the 
women  worshippers  by  nearly  ten  to  one,  and  it  was  just 


186       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

an  ordinary  service.  Then  again  there  has  been  a  re- 
markable development  of  interest  in  the  consideration 
of  religious  questions.  Public  lectures  have  been  given 
by  men  like  Professor  Prince  Eugene  Trubetzkoy,  Pro- 
fessor Bulgakoff,  and  Nikolai  Berdyaev,  dealing  with 
various  aspects  of  the  political  and  spiritual  present  and 
future  of  Russia  :  for  the  two  are  one  there  in  a  degree 
in  which  that  is  true  of  no  other  country  in  the  world. 
These  lectures  have  been  attended  by  crowded  audiences, 
and  listened  to  with  an  almost  strained  interest.  The 
demand  for  religious  literature  has  also  greatly  increased, 
although  it  is  mainly  satisfied  by  the  sale  of  the  older 
Russian  classics.  Yet  in  one  quarter  I  learned  that  "  the 
translation  of  a  book  called  '  The  Ideal  Life,'  by  a  Mr. 
Henry  Drummond,"  was  especially  treasured  by  those 
who  knew  it.  Religious  conversation  has  also  become 
much  more  frequent  and  natural  in  drawing-room  and 
trench  alike.  Such  subjects  were  never  very  far  at  any 
time  from  the  speculative,  questing  Russian  mind  :  to- 
day it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  they  dominate  it. 
Have  we  a  Minister  of  State  who,  in  discussing  the  future 
of  a  city  which  was  the  cradle  of  Christianity  to  his 
people,  and  therefore  regarded  with  quite  a  peculiar 
longing  by  them,  would  or  could  say,  "We  are  a  religious 
people,  and  I  believe  that  in  our  branch  of  the  Greek 
Church  there  has  been  preserved  a  real  religious  life, 
whereas  the  other  branches  of  the  Greek  Church  have 
become  somewhat  barren  and  dogmatic,  content  with 
that  external  crust  of  things  which  has  been  very  much 
for  the  Greek  Church  what  the  Latin  theology  has  been 
for  the  Church  of  the  West  "  ;  or  in  discussing  the  future 
of  a  country  would  say,  as  part  of  his  political  point  of 
view,  "  Russia  does  not  want  Palestine  for  herself.  Such 
an  attitude  is  really  distinctive  of  Russia.  She  could  not 
be  imagined  as  wanting  it  for  herself.  Christ's  redemp- 
tion is  for  all  the  world  ?  "  Similarly,  at  the  other  end  of 
the  social  scale,  religious  and  political  thought  blend  in  the 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  187 

peasant  mind,  with  the  former  element  as  the  determina- 
tive one,  nor  do  I  know  any  more  exquisite  expression 
of  the  fact  than  in  an  incident  related  by  Prince  Trubetz- 
koy  in  one  of  the  lectures  referred  to  above.  It  opens 
avowedly  with  a  discussion  of  what  Constantinople,  as 
expressed  in  the  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  has  meant  and 
means  to  Russia,  but  passes  quickly  into  the  larger 
thought  of  what  Sophia,  the  Wisdom  of  God  in  His  pur- 
pose of  the  redemption  of  humanity,  has  meant  to  the 
world.  The  whole  theme  is  developed  with  the  haunting 
mysticism  of  the  Russian  mind,  and  his  endeavour  is  to 
show  how  this  thought  of  the  salvation  of  the  world 
through  the  power  of  Christ  is,  as  it  always  has  been, 
close  to  the  heart  of  the  Russian  people.  "It  is  no 
matter  for  surprise,"  he  says — and  this  poor  translation 
can  give  little  impression  of  the  beauty  of  the  original — 
"it  is  no  matter  for  surprise  that  the  soul  of  our  people 
was  from  the  earliest  times  united  to  the  idea  of  St.  Sophia 
with  the  greatest  hope  and  with  the  greatest  joy,  and  it 
would  be  vain  to  think  that  the  deepest  sense  of  this  idea 
can  be  understood  only  by  intelligent  and  educated  people. 
On  the  contrary,  for  the  very  highly  educated  this  idea 
is  especially  hard  to  understand  :  it  is  much  nearer  to 
the  life-understanding  of  our  people.  As  proof  of  this, 
take  the  following  personal  reminiscence.  Four  years 
ago  I  returned  to  Russia  from  a  long  foreign  journey 
through  Constantinople.  In  the  morning  in  the  mosque 
of  St.  Sophia  they  showed  me  on  the  wall  the  imprint  of 
the  bloody  hand  of  the  Sultan  who  had  shed  the  blood  of 
Christians  in  this  greatest  of  the  orthodox  temples  on  the 
very  day  of  the  taking  of  Constantinople.  Having  killed 
the  worshippers  who  came  there  for  safety,  he  wiped  his 
hand  on  the  column,  and  the  bloody  imprint  is  shown 
there  still.  Immediately  after  this  visit  I  went  on  board 
a  Russian  steamer  going  to  Odessa  from  Palestine,  and 
at  once  found  myself  in  a  familiar  atmosphere.  On 
the  deck    there  was    gathered  a   very  large   group   of 


188       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

Russian  peasants — pilgrims  returning  homewards  from 
the  Holy  Land.  Tired  with  the  long  journey,  badly 
dressed  and  hungry,  they  were  drinking  water  with  hard 
bread,  they  were  finishing  their  simple  everyday  toilet, 
they  were  listening,  reclining,  to  tales  about  Constanti- 
nople. They  were  listening  to  tales  about  its  churches 
and,  of  course,  about  the  bloody  Sultan  and  about  the 
streams  of  Christian  blood  which,  during  more  than  five 
centuries,  had  periodically  flowed  in  this  once  Christian 
kingdom.  I  cannot  convey  to  you  how  deeply  I  was 
moved  by  what  I  saw.  I  saw  my  own  country  in  Con- 
stantinople. There  on  the  mountain  had  just  disap- 
peared the  Holy  Sophia  lighted  by  the  sun,  and  here 
before  me  on  the  deck  was  a  real  Russian  village  ;  and  at 
the  moment  when  our  boat  gently  moved  along  the 
Bosphorus  with  its  mosques  and  minarets,  the  whole 
crowd  firmly  and  solemnly  but,  I  do  not  know  why,  in  a 
subdued  voice,  sang  '  Christ  is  Risen '  (the  Easter  hymn 
of  the  Greek  Church  liturgy).  How  deep  and  long- 
developed  was  the  instinct  which  I  heard  in  this  singing, 
and  how  much  of  soul  understanding  there  was  in  it  ! 
What  other  answer  could  they  find  in  their  souls  but  this 
to  what  they  heard  about  the  Temple,  about  the  Turks 
who  defiled  it,  and  of  the  long-continued  persecution  of 
the  nation  over  whom  they  ruled  ?  What  other  answer 
could  they  find  in  their  souls  in  such  a  country,  except 
this,  except  their  joy  in  the  thought  of  a  common  resur- 
rection for  all  people  and  for  all  nations  ?  I  do  not  know 
whether  they  understood  their  answer.  For  me  it  is 
unimportant  whether  the  peasants  thought  or  not  about 
the  Temple  itself — it  is  of  Holy  Sophia  that  they  were 
singing.  It  is  important  that  in  their  singing  the  real 
Sophia  was  understood  so  as  no  single  philosopher  or 
theologian  could  express  it.  The  peasants  who  sang 
'  Christ  is  Risen  '  could  scarcely  interpret  very  well  what 
they  understood.  But  in  their  religious  feeling  there  was 
more  than  any  deep  understanding.     They  understood 


RELIGION  IN   RUSSIA  TO-DAY  189 

the  ferocious  Turkish  power  under  which  the  blood  of 
persecuted  peoples  flowed  :  they  saw  (in  their  soul)  the 
whole  humanity  joined  in  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Resurrection, 
but  at  the  same  time  they  felt  that  they  could  not  express 
this  joy,  this  hope,  which  always  lives  in  the  soul  of  the 
people,  now,  in  the  centre  of  the  Turkish  power,  except 
with  a  subdued  voice,  because  so  long  as  this  power 
exists  and  the  temper  produced  by  it,  Sophia  is  still  far 
from  us  ;  she  is  in  a  different  sphere.  But  the  time  will 
come  when  heaven  will  descend  to  earth,  and  the  eternal 
idea  of  humanity  will  be  realised  ;  then  this  hymn  will 
sound  loud  and  powerful — this  hymn  which  now  you  hear 
in  a  subdued  tone.  I  think  no  other  proof  seems  neces- 
sary that  Sophia  lives  in  the  soul  of  our  people.  But  in 
order  to  see  and  to  feel  her  reality,  it  is  necessary  to  ex- 
perience that  which  these  peasants  on  the  steamer  felt, 
and  about  which  they  sang." 

Is  it  at  all  remarkable  that  amongst  such  a  people 
there  should  be  signs  of  a  great  religious  awakening,  none 
the  less  wonderful  that  it  is  going  on  so  quietly  that  per- 
haps as  yet  the  mass  of  the  people  know  little  about  it  ? 
One  of  the  Foreign  Bible  Societies  has  distributed  over 
three  and  a  half  million  portions  and  gospels  amongst 
the  soldiers  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  They  were 
sent  by  the  Imperial  supply  trains  to  the  front,  and  on 
the  opening  page  may  be  found  the  following  inscription  : 
"  This  book  is  given  by  His  Imperial  Highness  the  Tzare- 
vitch  Alexei  Nikolaevitch,  presented  by  a  Sunday-school 
scholar  in  America."  Already  those  who  have  concerned 
themselves  with  the  organisation  and  direction  of  this 
distribution  have  become  aware  of  its  issue  in  a  movement 
which  is  ultimately  due,  as  one  of  them  said  to  me,  "  to 
no  human  means  :  it  is  nothing  less  than  the  Spirit  of 
God  moving  amongst  the  people."  Through  letters  from 
the  soldiers  they  learn  how  in  a  hospital  one  has  taught 
his  fellows  to  sing  a  grace  before  meals,  whilst  in  a  trench 
the  others  have  gathered  round  the  only  member  of  their 


190        THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

company  who  happened  to  get  an  Evangile,  and  he  reads 
aloud  to  them.  Yet  I  do  not  wish  to  give  any  one-sided 
impression.  There  is  no  assemblage  in  any  country 
to-day,  whether  camp  or  commune,  where  the  words  of 
the  prophet  are  not  as  true  as  when  they  were  written  : 
"  Many  shall  purify  themselves,  and  make  themselves 
white,  and  be  refined  :  but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly  : 
and  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand  :  but  they  that 
be  wise  shall  understand."1 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  movement  is  going  on 
amongst  the  Greek  clergy  themselves  which,  if  it  con- 
tinues to  progress,  will  provide  a  very  sympathetic 
atmosphere  for  the  furtherance  of  the  awakening  already 
described.  The  movement  is  not  new,  and  it  is  confined 
as  yet  to  very  few  comparatively,  but  it  is  the  beginning 
of  a  line  of  advance  that  history  shows  cannot  be  ulti- 
mately checked.  Already  in  1905  there  had  come  into 
existence  a  group  of  priests  who  were  called  Priest  Re- 
newers  (Svyaschenniki  obnovlentzie).  They  also  pub- 
lished a  project  for  a  reformed  parish  life.  In  those  times 
the  universal  cry  of  the  clergy  was  that  the  parish  life 
should  be  renewed.  The  Holy  Synod  worked  out  a  scheme 
for  the  Duma  on  this  matter.  But  the  project  was  not 
considered  to  be  satisfactory  either  for  the  Government 
or  for  the  clergy,  and  it  did  not  pass.  Briefly  put,  the 
parish  was  to  be  converted  into  a  church — the  parish, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  sense  of  a  certain  congregation  of  the 
people  who  have  no  right  to  manage  the  affairs  of  their 
own  congregation,  the  minister  (priest)  doing  all  this  for 
the  bishop,  while  the  people  did  not  discuss  their  own 
needs  or  conditions.  A  church,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
be  a  group  of  people  who  elect  their  own  minister,  and 
manage  their  own  affairs  by  their  own  discussion  and 
vote. 

The  most  distinguished  representative  of  this  reform- 
ing and  regenerating  movement  in  the  Orthodox  Church 

1  Dan.  xii.  10. 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  191 

to-day  is  Andreas,  Bishop  of  Ufa.  He  wants  the  Church 
free  from  officialdom.  Svoboda,  freedom,  the  rallying 
cry  of  the  revolutionaries  of  1905,  is  his  catchword.  He 
is  especially  anxious  about  the  reform  of  the  parochial 
system,  considering  that  it  must  be  carried  out  under 
any  circumstances.  In  Russia  the  parish  priests  are 
elected  by  the  bishops,  and  the  election  is  confirmed  by  the 
Holy  Synod.  The  local  clergy,  that  is  to  say,  are  ap- 
pointed without  any  reference  or  regard  to  the  wishes  of 
the  people.  To  Andreas'  mind  such  a  system  is  obsolete. 
The  parishes,  he  says,  must  be  reformed  on  the  principle 
of  election  of  the  priests  by  the  people,  and  with  a  certain 
autonomy  granted  to  every  parish  in  relation  to  national 
interests  like  education,  etc.  "  We  bishops  must  sur- 
render this  right  of  election  to  the  churches."  Again,  in 
the  activities  of  the  Holy  Synod,  the  determining  voice  is 
that  of  the  Procurator,  the  lay  member,  and  he  is  really 
there  to  give  expression  to  the  wishes  of  the  Imperial 
Protector  of  the  Church.  "  Now,"  say  Andreas  and  his 
co -thinkers,  amongst  whom  may  be  numbered  Bishop 
Nikon  of  Krasnoyarsk  and  Demetrius  of  Tauria  (Crimea), 
"  this  is  not  canonical.  In  the  early  days  of  the  reign  of 
Peter  the  Great  and  previously,  the  Patriarch  was  free 
from  the  bureaucracy,  but  that  great  Emperor  established 
the  collegium  of  bishops,  and  abolished  the  Patriarchate, 
replacing  it  by  the  Synod,  and  instituting  the  office  of 
Procurator.  We  must  return  to  the  older  arrange- 
ment." When  to  this  we  can  add  that  he  speaks 
against  the  exercise  of  any  kind  of  intolerance,  we  can 
surely  look  forward  to  a  day  of  great  things  in  the  Greek 
Church. 

The  religious  condition  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church 
is,  then,  indeed  promising.  Amongst  her  priests  are  many 
in  whom  there  is  a  longing  for  the  revival  and  redemption 
of  religious  life  generally.  Amongst  her  people  there  are 
brotherhoods  or  unions  of  zealous  orthodox  souls  who 
gather  in  special  houses,  listen  to  the  preaching  of  par- 


192        THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF   RUSSIA 

ticular  priests,  and  sing  evangelical  hymns.  And  when 
we  further  consider  the  definite  situation  produced  by 
such  a  step  as  the  prohibition  of  vodka,  we  see  how, 
taken  in  conjunction  with  this  religious  temper  of  her 
people,  yet  greater  and  farther-reaching  results  may  be 
achieved  in  this  already  admirable  land.  The  liquor- 
traffic  reform  has  left  the  Russian  Government  with  a 
concrete  yet  difficult  problem.  Vodka  and  the  public- 
houses  have  been  taken  from  the  people,  but  little  has 
been  done  to  provide  them  with  good  pastimes  and  reason- 
able and  useful  entertainment.  The  Ministry  of  the 
Interior  attempted  to  supply  the  lack  by  a  project  to 
build  People's  Palaces  in  every  city.  The  scheme  was 
submitted  to  the  Council  of  Ministers  by  Mr.  Maklakoff, 
a  recent  Minister  of  the  Interior,  but  the  Council  framed 
a  remarkable  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  question 
cannot  be  settled  merely  by  building  special  People's 
Palaces  with  cheap  entertainments,  but  that  there  must 
also  be  educational  and  religious  means  applied  to  this 
end.  Under  the  former  are  envisaged  lecture-halls, 
libraries,  and  special  evening  classes  for  the  village 
people.  With  regard  to  religious  means,  the  Council 
in  a  delicate  way  indicated  to  the  Holy  Synod  that 
they  are  bound  to  bring  definite  spiritual  influences 
to  bear  upon  the  people,  and  to  provide  them  with  a 
high  religious  influence  that  will  fill  their  lives.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  after  the  war  all  these  questions 
will  be  raised  and  discussed,  and  a  new  movement  in- 
augurated amongst  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  and 
the  people  generally. 

Hitherto  we  have  dealt  with  the  Orthodox  Church. 
But  Raskol,  or  dissent,  and  religious  fragmentation  gener- 
ally, have  been  as  characteristic  of  Russia  as  of  our  own 
country.  It  testifies  indeed  to  a  certain  vitality  of  re- 
ligious life,  but  we  believe  that  we  are  entering  a  period 
when  the  centrifugal  tendencies  of  the  past  will  be  re- 
placed by  movements  that  are  centripetal.     It  is  so  in 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  193 

Russia  to-day.  Of  the  various  dissenting  bodies,  the 
Old  Believers  are  the  most  important,  of  whom  there  are 
more  than  twelve  millions,  living  mostly  on  the  Volga 
and  in  Central  Russia  generally.  Their  origin  goes  back 
to  the  second  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was 
in  part  a  protest  against  the  issue  of  corrected  texts  of 
the  religious  books  initiated  by  the  Patriarch  Nikon. 
The  most  aggressive  points  of  difference  between  them 
and  the  Orthodox  Church  lie,  however,  in  such  futilities 
of  ritual  as  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  two  fingers 
instead  of  with  three,  or  leading  the  church  processions 
of  their  clergy  "  according  to  the  sun  "  instead  of  "  against 
the  sun."  They  are  intensely  literalistic — practically 
fetichists — in  their  attitude  to  the  Scriptures,  and  there 
is  a  great  development  of  ritual  in  their  services.  On  the 
other  hand,  their  communities  choose  their  own  priests, 
and  they  have  their  own  bishops,  archbishops,  and 
metropolitan,  uninterfered  with  by  the  Holy  Synod  ; 
that  is  to  say,  they  have  already  secured  many  of  the 
conditions  which  Andreas  of  Ufa  desiderates  for  the 
Orthodox  Church.  There  is  little  doubt  that  a  reunion 
of  the  Old  Believers  with  the  Orthodox  Church  will  come. 
Already  some  who  look  for  a  great  future  for  their 
beloved  Church,  regenerated  and  transformed,  are  plan- 
ning in  their  minds  a  local  council  at  which  the  first  steps 
of  this  movement  will  be  inaugurated.  If  the  men  to 
whom  will  be  given  the  direction  of  such  a  work  include 
those  who  have  the  penetration  to  say,  as  one  of  them 
said  to  me,  "  It  is  easier  to  fight  with  our  national  enemies 
than  with  our  prejudices,"  we  can  be  certain  that  the 
thing  will  be  done.  And  when  this  is  done,  and  as  the 
movement  grows,  we  may  see  things  even  yet  more 
wonderful.  Such  at  any  rate  are  the  dreams  of  those 
who  love  their  Church  in  Russia.  "  I  am  very  pravos- 
lavny  (orthodox)  myself,"  writes  one  of  the  most  devoted 
of  her  sons  to  me,  "  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  universal 
importance  of  the  Russian  Church,  but  you  will  see  this 


194       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF   RUSSIA 

better  in  the  future.  The  immediacy  of  her  influence  on 
Russian  life  depends  largely  upon  our  '  intelligent  ' 
society  ;  the  more  quickly  they  give  up  their  religious 
indifference,  the  sooner  will  that  influence  be  felt.  If  her 
spiritual  resurrection  shall  be  as  fully  accomplished  as  we 
expect  it  after  such  a  world-convulsion,  then  the  power 
of  the  Russian  Church  will  show  itself  visibly  even  on  the 
surface  of  Russian  life." 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  throughout  this  de- 
scription of  religion  in  Russia  to-day,  there  have  been 
expressions  of  hope  and  belief  in  a  regenerated  and  revita- 
lised Church  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  supplied  us 
with  our  subject-matter  ;  nor  are  they  unaware  of  how 
all  this  alone  can  come.  When,  however,  we  still  con- 
sider such  a  movement  on  its  purely  human  side,  we 
cannot  altogether  refuse  to  recognise  what  may  be  done, 
and  indeed  for  that  matter  has  been  done,  for  Russia  by 
other  bodies,  dissenters  also,  who  have  no  historical 
connection  with  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Church.  Under 
the  ukaz  of  17th  April,  1905,  the  right  was  given  to  all 
subjects  who  so  desired  to  separate  from  the  Orthodox 
Church.  Of  this  "  Charter  of  Tolerance  "  great  advan- 
tage was  taken.  Again,  the  ukaz  of  17th  October,  1906, 
gave  the  right  to  all  dissenters  to  form  their  own  religious 
associations,  and  have  their  own  churches  and  ministers. 
It  also  gave  them  important  personal  rights  :  under  it 
they  became  individuals  before  the  law.  A  Church  could 
now  found  chapels,  schools,  and  other  institutions,  and 
own  its  own  property.  Protected  by  these  laws,  dis- 
senters were  able  to  spread  their  activities  throughout 
Russia.  Further,  under  the  political  manifesto  of  Octo- 
ber, 1905 — "The  Charter  of  the  Constitution" — con- 
cerned with  the  constitution  of  Russian  life  generally, 
and  granting  the  Duma,  etc.,  dissenters,  along  with  the 
Russian  population  as  a  whole,  acquired  a  certain  liberty 
of  the  Press  :  they  had  now  the  right  to  publish  their 
own  books  and  periodicals.    How  great  the  contrast  was 


RELIGION  IN  RUSSIA  TO-DAY  195 

with  the  condition  of  affairs  previous  to  1905  can  only 
be  appreciated  by  those  who  knew  the  country  before 
and  after.  Previous  to  that  year  dissenters  could  not 
separate  officially  from  the  Orthodox  Church :  such 
separation  was  considered  to  be  a  crime.  The  dissenter 
in  this  narrower  sense  of  the  term,  whatever  he  was,  was 
described  in  his  passport  as  belonging  to  the  Orthodox 
Church.  The  man  who  announced  his  separation  was 
tried  and  sent  to  Siberia  or  to  Transcaucasia.  Any  kind 
of  propaganda — preaching,  speaking  about  evangelical 
religion — was  considered  a  crime.  There  were  no  meeting- 
houses or  institutions  :  no  periodicals  might  be  published. 
All  sacred  songs  were  written  out  on  paper,  with  the 
exception  of  certain  editions  which  were  issued  in  the 
time  of  Pashkoff  in  the  closing  year  of  the  reign  of  Alexan- 
der II.  Meetings  were  arranged  in  a  secret  way  in  Petro- 
grad,  with  small  numbers,  and  held  in  private  homes  and 
lodgings. 

From  1905  onwards,  accordingly,  there  has  been  a 
great  change.  One  immediate  result  was  that  a  great 
many  people  who  had  separated  from  the  Orthodox 
Church,  though  described  as  Orthodox  upon  their  pass- 
ports, applied  for  separation.  In  some  cases  they  tried 
to  gather  into  communities  and  associations,  and  obtain 
recognition  from  the  Government  as  a  new  association. 
Some  of  these  bodies  have  founded  their  own  schools  and 
philanthropic  institutions,  hold  their  own  conferences, 
publish  their  own  periodicals,  tracts,  and  hymn-books. 
Now  these  bodies,  although  small,  cannot  have  failed  to 
exert  some  influence  upon  the  activities  of  the  Orthodox 
Church.  Till  1890,  for  example,  there  was  hardly  any 
preaching  in  the  Orthodox  Church  :  since  then  preaching 
has  greatly  increased,  due  to  the  influence  exerted  on  the 
people  by  the  preaching  of  Stundists  and  other  dissenters. 
There  is  a  law  of  spiritual  induction  whereby  energetic 
conditions  prevalent  in  one  body  can  influence  other 
bodies  in  the  vicinity  without  actual  contact.    It  is  im- 


196       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

possible  to  estimate  how  far  these  other  bodies  may  thus 
react  on  the  "  predominant  "  body,  but  it  is  certain  that 
by  the  Charter  of  Tolerance  Russia  permitted  the  develop- 
ment of  a  spirit  that  should  eventually  work  throughout 
the  country  for  good. 


THEME  VII 

RUSSIA   AND  CONSTANTINOPLE 


THEME  VII 

RUSSIA   AND   CONSTANTINOPLE 

"  A  peculiar  factor  is  the  increasing  difficulty  of  governing 
the  Russian  Empire  from  so  completely  uncentral  a  point  as 
St.  Petersburg.  If  the  capital  of  Russia  were  ever  changed, 
it  would  be  transferred  to  the  shores,  or  near  the  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea.  In  many  of  the  older  Russian  maps  a  certain 
town  upon  the  Dardanelles  is  not  marked  Constantinople, 
but  Tzargrad,  i.e.  Tzargorod,  Tzartown.  Is  this  an  earnest 
of  the  future  ?  At  any  rate  it  is  only  a  question  of  time  till 
these  things  be."  ("  Blackwood's  Magazine,"  October,  1898. 
Article,  "  Travel  Pictures  in  the  Caucasus,"  by  the  author.) 

rpiHE  relation,  which  is  also  the  right,  of  Russia  to 
-■-  Constantinople  and  the  Straits  may  be  considered 
especially  from  two  points  of  view :  the  one  economic,  the 
other  idealistic.  In  the  case  of  the  former,  the  importance 
of  such  possession  is  both  calculable  and  immediately 
obvious.  On  the  other  hand,  the  religious  importance 
of  Constantinople  to  the  life  of  the  Oriental  Orthodox 
Church  is  simply  incalculable,  and  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated by  those  who  have  endeavoured  to  assimilate 
something  of  the  soul  of  Russia  in  its  development  from 
the  past.  "  In  the  Russian  Orthodox  consciousness," 
writes  one  of  her  best  known  and  most  devoted  sons 
to  me,  "  Constantinople  till  now  remains  the  world-centre 
of  Christianity,  and  therefore  it  is  the  natural  capital  of 
the  future  Orthodox  Kingdom.  With  the  name  of  Con- 
stantinople are  very  closely  joined  the  mystical  and 
cultural  hopes  of  the  representatives  of  the  real  Russian 

199 


200       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF   RUSSIA 

self -consciousness,  such  as  Tiutchev  and  Dostoievsky, 
and  these  hopes  are  alive  in  us  to-day  with  renewed 
force.  Orthodox  Russia,  which  is  the  spiritual  core  of 
the  Russian  Empire,  cannot  imagine  that  Tzargrad  could 
be  anything  else  but  Russian  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  belong 
to  Turkey.  The  failure  of  this  hope  will  be  an  unbearable 
disappointment  for  Russia,  and  I  know  that  the  British 
people  realise  the  value  of  religion  and  understand  that 
they  must  consider  religious  Russia  even  more  than 
political  or  '  intelligent '  Russia.  We  believe  that  if 
this  war  puts  an  end  to  the  old  '  epoch  of  Petrograd  n 
in  Russian  history,  then  after  the  taking  of  Tzargrad, 
there  will  begin  a  new  cultural  and  historical  epoch  in 
Russian  life  which  will  give  her  a  new  and  special  place 
in  history.  Tzargrad  is  the  spiritual  motherland  of 
Russia  because  it  was  thence  that  we  got  our  Chris- 
tianity ;   how  can  we  spurn  our  motherland  ?  " 

The  claim  of  a  relation  which  affects  the  physical  and 
spiritual  life  of  a  nation  so  profoundly  and  vitally  as  to 
constitute  a  right  of  possession  invites  the  closest  attention. 
The  economic  aspect  may  be  regarded  as  in  part  an  ex- 
pression of  the  age-long  movement  towards  open  waters 
that  has  been  a  persistent  motive  in  Russian  foreign 
policy.  The  White  Sea  and  the  Arctic  Ocean  enchained 
in  Polar  ice,  the  Baltic  similarly  blocked  for  half  the  year, 
the  Black  Sea  closed  in  yet  another  way,  the  land-locked 
Caspian  could  not  satisfy  her,  and  she  sought  the  far 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  only  to  find  Vladivostok  too  distant 
for  convenience.  We  have  seen  how  Serbia,  small  people 
though  she  be,  has  struggled  to  get  to  the  sea,  and  Russia, 
with  her  population  of  180  millions,  choking  for  a  water 
outlet  unhampered  by  ice  or  Germany,  has  experienced 
an  even  greater  need.  In  part  also  there  has  been 
throughout  the  last  thousand  years  a  sort  of  subconscious 

1  i.e.  of  unbridled  bureaucracy,  which  was  really  a  German  importa- 
tion in  the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great,  and  is  foreign  to  the  sentiment  of 
the  Russian  people. 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  201 

mass -tendency  of  gravitation  towards  the  south  and  St. 
Sophia,  both  in  thought  and  actuality,  amongst  the 
Russian  people.  It  is  not,  therefore,  owing  to  physio- 
graphical  conditions  alone  that  the  greatest  agricultural 
and  mineralogical  development  is  found  in  the  Southern 
Governments,  although  that  is  the  concrete  fact,  big 
with  consequences  which  have  made  the  question  of  an 
open  port  almost  a  matter  of  life  and  death  for  the  South. 
This  export  of  the  products  of  the  earth  demands  a  great 
harbour  area  and  a  large  tonnage  of  vessels,  for  it  cannot 
be  done  by  rail  successfully  ;  the  distances  are  much  too 
great  to  permit  the  export  of  the  products  of  South 
Russia  in  any  other  direction  than  along  the  natural 
route, — the  Sea  of  Azov,  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  Straits. 
Consequently  with  every  closure  of  the  Dardanelles,  for 
however  short  a  period,  the  whole  industrial  and  economic 
life  of  the  South  has  been  disorganised,  and  millions  of 
rubles  have  been  lost.  Russia  has  been  in  the  position  of 
a  man  living  in  his  own  house,  the  key  to  which  remained 
in  another's  pocket.  During  the  Turko-Italian  War,  and 
again  during  the  Balkan  Wars,  Russia  realised  keenly 
what  it  meant  to  have  the  Dardanelles  thus  arbitrarily 
closed  even  for  a  few  weeks.  The  present  war  has  em- 
phasised the  situation  in  the  acutest  possible  form. 

Through  the  Straits  of  the  Dardanelles  are  exported 
the  products  of  a  very  large  part  of  European  Russia, 
the  Caucasus  and  the  Turkestan,  as  this  is  the  natural 
highway  for  the  export  of  these  products.  The  following 
data  illustrate  with  exactness  the  importance  of  the 
Russian  export  and  import  trade  through  the  Straits  : 
the  marked  diminution  of  exports  in  1912  is  due  to  the 
Turko-Italian  and  Balkan  Wars.1 

1  For  the  data  in  these  paragraphs  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  A. 
Raffalovich,  Permanent  Head  of  the  Ministry  for  Commerce  and 
Industry. 


202       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 


1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 
1912 


1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 
1912 


Value  of  the 

total  export  from 

Russia. 

vaiue  oi  me 

export  that 

passed  through 

the  Straits  j 

(in  millions  of  rubles). 

1001 

410 

1006 

410 

1007 

406 

1094 

378 

1053 

386 

998 

345 

1427 

565 

1449 

565 

1591 

568 

1518 

433 

Value  of  the 

total  import 

to  Russia. 

Value  of  the 
import  to  Russia 
that  passed  through 
the  Straits. 

(in  millions  of  rubles). 

682 

71 

651 

70 

635 

67 

801 

74 

847 

73 

913 

66 

906 

67 

1084 

76 

1162 

87 

1172 

83 

From  the  above  data,  it  can  be  seen  that  on  an  average 
about  37  per  cent  of  the  total  Russian  export  was  exported 
through  the  Straits  in  the  last  decade,  the  import  being 
equal  on  the  average  to  8  per  cent.  For  a  certain  number 
of  products,  however,  the  export  through  the  Dar- 
danelles has  a  much  greater  importance,  for  Russia,  than 
is  shown  by  the  mere  data.  For  instance,  from  Russia 
by  that  route  is  exported  over  all  about  90  per  cent  of 
the  total  export  of  wheat,  85  per  cent  of  the  total  export 
of  barley,  95  per  cent  of  the  total  export  of  manganese 
ore,  80  per  cent  of  the  total  export  of  naphtha  products, 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  203 

55  per  cent  of  the  total  export  of  iron  ore,  45  per  cent  of 
the  total  export  of  methylated  spirits,  etc.  Another 
point  that  should  be  taken  into  consideration  is  that 
about  98  per  cent  of  all  the  goods  that  are  transported  on 
Russian  ships  between  Russian  and  other  ports  (coasting 
trade)  have  to  pass  through  the  Straits. 

The  importance  for  Russia  of  the  sea  route  through 
the  Dardanelles  will  constantly  increase  since  with  the 
construction  of  new  railway  lines  in  the  South  (Odessa- 
Bakhmach,  Kharkov-Cherson,  as  well  as  in  the  Caucasus 
and  Turkestan,  etc.),  and  of  the  projected  canal  between 
the  rivers  Volga  and  Don,  and  the  water  route  between 
the  Baltic  and  the  Black  Seas,  there  will  be  created  a 
great  quantity  of  new  products,  that  will  tend  to  be  ex- 
ported through  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Dardanelles.  One 
cannot,  of  course,  deny  that  other  countries  have  economi- 
cal interests  in  the  passage  of  the  Straits  and  in  Con- 
stantinople which  is  one  of  the  greatest  commercial  ports 
in  the  world,  but  the  interests  of  Russia  in  the  Dardanelles 
are  more  important  by  far,  since  they  touch  the  most 
vital  sides  of  the  economic  life  of  that  country.  Every 
time  that  Turkey  has  been  at  war,  Russia  has  had  to 
suffer  greatly  from  the  closing  of  the  Dardanelles  for  free 
trade.  The  loss  occasioned  to  Russia  from  that  fact  is 
estimated  to  have  reached  about  one  million  rubles  per 
day  during  the  closing  of  the  Straits  for  commercial 
navigation  during  a  certain  period  of  the  Turko-Italian 
and  the  Balkan  Wars.  To  the  same  cause  is  to  be  attri- 
buted in  great  part  the  fact  that  the  commercial  balance 
of  Russia  in  1912  was  one  hundred  million  rubles  lower 
than  that  of  the  three  preceding  years  (according  to  the 
draft  budget  of  1914). 

From  the  days  of  the  Crimean  War  till  recently  our 
policy  in  relation  to  Russia  has  been  consistently  un- 
fortunate. Whether  in  the  matter  of  the  Dardanelles  or 
at  Port  Arthur,  its  motive  has  been  to  thwart,  largely 
because  we  did  not  understand,  and  partly  because  we 


204       THE   SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

feared.  In  connection  with  Constantinople  we  shall  have 
an  opportunity  for  generous  action  which  may  well 
become  the  basis  of  a  future  perfect  understanding. 
Suppose  that  we  have  welcomed  her  to  Tzargrad  and 
agreed  to  her  occupying  such  territory  as  is  necessary  to 
secure  her  possession  of  the  city  and  the  Straits.  In 
what  way  are  we  affected,  even  if  we  agree  to  her  fortifying 
the  Straits  of  Constantinople  and  the  Dardanelles  as  the 
simplest  and  least  costly  method  of  defending  the  Black 
Sea  littoral,  thus  making  the  Black  Sea  practically 
another  inland  Russian  Sea  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  fear  of 
letting  Russia  into  the  Mediterranean  has  been  mis- 
placed, because  Russia  is  the  only  country  in  the  world 
which  is  geographically  mother  country  and  colonies  in 
one.  She  has  enormous  areas,  e.g.  in  Siberia,  the  Urals, 
and  Turkestan,  with  a  very  scant  population,  yet  with 
all  the  conditions  for  housing  the  surplus  population  of 
some  of  her  European  districts.  Russia  has  already  too 
much  territory  to  want  more  ;  indeed  the  size  of  the 
country  is  the  great  drawback  to  its  intensive  cultiva- 
tion. It  would  be  a  real  peril  to  Russia  to  increase  her 
territory  largely.  But  further,  there  is  no  country  that 
is  au  fond  so  democratic  as  Russia,  and  sooner  or  later 
this  spirit  will  enter  into  the  decision  of  the  country's 
destinies.  Its  people  will  not  be  aggressive  militarists, 
for  that  is  not  in  their  nature.  Russia  will  have  the  key 
in  her  pocket,  but  she  will  use  it  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
her  own  house  safe,  not  with  a  view  to  getting  into  any- 
body else's.  Great  Britain's  keys  are  Suez  and  Gibraltar, 
and  Russia  does  not  want  them  ;  she  knows  full  well 
that  we  could  lock  her  in  with  either  of  them.  But  she 
is  not  a  maritime  nation,  and  cherishes  no  wish  to  possess 
a  great  navy. 

In  the  second  place,  Russia  does  not  want  the  Straits 
to  close  them,  but  to  keep  them  open  and  to  welcome  all 
there.     She  wants  to  export  into  the  highly  populated 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  205 

countries.  The  open  Straits  mean  cheaper  food  for 
Britain.  Russia  would  never  close  the  Straits  without 
the  most  serious  reason,  because  it  is  she  herself  who 
would  feel  first  and  most  deeply  the  effects  of  such  a 
step.  She  further  realises  that  there  is  some  probability 
of  a  temporary  decline  in  the  prosperity  of  Constantinople 
after  it  passes  into  her  hands,  ceasing  to  be  the  capital  of 
an  Empire,  and  henceforth  used  mainly  as  a  place  of 
call.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  she  will  do  everything 
to  encourage  Rumania  inside,  and  other  nations  outside 
the  Straits,  to  develop  commerce  with  and  through 
Constantinople.  Hitherto  Russia  has  not  seemed  par- 
ticularly anxious  to  hold  to  such  traditions  as  she  had  ; 
she  has  rather  sought  her  inspiration  from  the  West. 
To-day  she  begins  to  appreciate  afresh  her  own  tradition, 
and  her  spirit,  in  which  consist  her  real  riches,  develops 
anew.  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  rediscovery  of  her- 
self may  be  expressed  in  a  change  of  capital  to  Moscow 
or  Kiev  or,  less  probably,  farther  south.  But  the  com- 
plete ending  of  the  "  epoch  of  Petrograd  "  will  be  due 
rather  to  that  spiritual  envisaging  of  things  which  is 
at  once  the  mainspring  and  the  safeguard  of  the  Russian 
desire  for  Constantinople. 

"  The  thought  of  Constantinople  is  the  ozone  in  the 
spiritual  atmosphere  of  our  people.  It  has  been  in  their 
minds  all  through  their  history.  It  is  the  cradle  of  their 
Christianity.  From  there  they  got  not  merely  their 
religion  but  much  of  their  culture.  Their  history,  when 
you  consider  how  important  were  the  various  Tatar  in- 
vasions, resolves  itself  in  their  minds  into  one  long  war- 
fare between  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross.  Towards  the 
restoration  of  the  Cross  upon  the  dome  of  St.  Sophia  the 
heart  of  the  Russian  people  goes  out  in  deep  devotion  as 
a  great  symbolic  act."  These  words,  expressing  the  loftiest 
political  viewpoint  in  Russia  to-day,  are  little  different 
from  the  theme  worked  out  by  Professor  Prince  Eugene 
Trubetzkoy  in  a  pamphlet  to  which  reference  has  already 


206       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

been  made,1  and  which  is  the  most  distinctive  Russian 
contribution  to  the  political  literature  of  the  war  known 
to  the  writer.  From  this  point  we  may  well  endeavour 
to  follow  its  argument. 

Prince  Trubetzkoy  begins  by  showing  how,  literally,  in 
virtue  of  its  geographical  and  historical  position,  Con- 
stantinople is  economically,  politically,  and  religiously 
Tzargrad — Town  of  Towns — to  Russia.  As  domination 
of  the  Straits  is  necessary  as  security  for  her  daily  bread, 
and  the  possession  of  Constantinople  is  necessary  as  a 
condition  of  Russia's  imperial  power  and  importance, 
so  the  Temple  of  St.  Sophia  expresses  that  for  which  the 
whole  meaning  of  Russian  life  exists,  the  sole  justification 
of  her  being,  and  that  for  which  she  conducts  the  present 
struggle.  All  the  questions  of  Russian  life  and  the  present 
war  are  subsumed  in  this,  Will  it  be  possible  for  Russia 
to  restore  the  defiled  Temple  in  the  sense  of  again  showing 
to  the  world  the  light  extinguished  by  the  Turks  ? 

In  the  luminous  mind  of  the  author,  interpreting  the 
religious  consciousness  of  his  people,  '  Sophia  '  symbolises 
the  Wisdom  of  God  in  creation,  and  it  takes  the  form  of 
a  woman,  St.  Sophia,  because  that  Wisdom  has  shown 
itself  at  its  highest  at  this  present  stage  in  mankind. 
Therein  lies  the  paradox  of  "  the  humanity  of  the  divine 
Wisdom,"  whose  purpose  however  of  filling  the  whole 
world  with  herself  and  binding  together  the  whole  of 
humanity  in  one  thought  is  not  yet  accomplished. 
"  Humanity  united  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  one  whole, 
and  in  this  form  become  like  God — this  is  the  highest 
expression  of  God's  project  for  the  world,  and  this  is 
what  must  eventually  reign  in  the  world."  "  The  hu- 
manity of  God  " — that  is  what  was  precious  to  our 
ancestors  in  their  representation  of  St.  Sophia,  and  was 
found  by  them  not  only  in  the  mural  paintings  of  her, 
but  pervading  the  whole  religious  consciousness  of  Ortho- 
dox Christianity,  so  that  the  worshipper  comes  into  con- 

1  See  p.  187. 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  207 

tact  not  with  an  abstract  world,  but  with  the  real  living 
world  of  God  and  man,  peopled  by  living  images. 
Thus  in  '  Sophia  '  are  included  a  call  and  a  religious 
ideal  —  a  call  to  the  realisation  of  that  ideally  perfect, 
pure  and  entire  humanity  which  our  ancient  ikonopists, 
Greek  and  Russian,  figured  as  St.  Sophia  sitting  on  the 
throne,  that  humanity  which  is  worthy  to  be  eternal, 
and  worthy  to  rule  over  creation.  But  as  yet  humanity 
is  torn  in  pieces ;  it  is  not  one  humanity.  Nation 
fights  against  nation ;  even  their  faiths  are  at  war. 
Humanity  is  sinful  and  therefore  mortal.  But  those 
who  were  aware  of  the  Spirit,  who  painted  St.  Sophia, 
saw  humanity  holy  and  therefore  immortal,  one  and 
entire.  Restoration  of  the  broken  whole  of  humanity 
and  so  of  all  creation — for  this  burn  the  hearts  of  those 
who  have  seen  the  Spirit.  This  were,  however,  indeed  a 
resurrection  to  a  new  life,  and  this  is  the  purpose  and 
progressive  achievement  of  •  Sophia ' — the  uniting  of 
humanity  and  the  entire  world  into  one  living  whole,  "  a 
living  spiritual  organism,"  rather  than  an  abstract  unity 
of  the  human  race,  "  a  communion  of  beings  joined  by 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  one  living  substance." 

The  writer  then  passes  on  to  deal  with  the  concrete 
situation.  Constantine  saw  that  heathen  Rome  had 
power  over  the  nations  in  its  own  name.  His  wish  was 
that  his  town  should  have  as  the  foundation  of  its  power 
the  union  of  the  nations  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  through 
the  Church  ;  his  hope  was  that  his  town  would  have  the 
power  of  the  wisdom  of  Christ,  not  the  power  of  its  own 
name,  like  Rome.  With  its  position  in  the  centre  of  the 
highways  of  the  nations, '  Sophia '  means  just  what  should 
unite  all  nations  and  serve  as  the  beginning  of  their 
united  kingdom.  '  Sophia,'  the  Wisdom  of  God,  is  the 
foundation  of  the  united  Christian  kingdom,  and  the 
idea  of  St.  Sophia  is  organically  connected  with  this 
place.  How  then  did  St.  Sophia  fall  into  Turkish  hands  ? 
The  possibility  can  only  be  explained  by  the  fact  that, 


208       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

the  Christian  Empire  lost  its  essential  spirituality,  and 
the  real  '  Sophia'  lived  no  longer  in  Christian  souls.  The 
material  loss  of  the  Temple  to  the  Turks  was  only  the 
symbol  of  the  ideal  spiritual  loss.  '  Sophia '  is  lost  at  present 
and  has  gone  into  a  far  off  region,  but  she  will  return  to 
shine  on  the  earth  when  there  will  be  a  new  humanity 
worthy  to  accept  her.  The  Christian  people  who  are  going 
to  have  possession  of  Tzargrad  must  have  that  in  their 
soul  in  name  of  which  the  plaster  with  which  the  Turks 
overlaid  the  painting  of  St.  Sophia1  can  be  removed — 
they  must  be  worthy  of  it ;  because  by  this  action  they 
light  again  the  light  extinguished  by  the  Turks.  It  is  not 
enough  for  them  to  let  the  image  be  seen  ;  they  must 
let  it  be  seen  in  their  deeds.  Only  those  can  have  pos- 
session of  Constantinople  who  previously  have  possession 
of  its  spiritual  meaning. 

He  then  states  that,  after  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity into  Russia,  the  connection  between  Russia  and 
St.  Sophia  found  its  expression  in  establishing  churches 
dedicated  to  her  in  old  Russian  towns.  The  image  of  St. 
Sophia  was  preserved  alike  in  the  religious  consciousness 
and  in  art.  Thus  the  idea  of  the  Christian  kingdom  as  it 
should  be  exists  in  the  Russian  popular  consciousness. 
"  This  religious -political  idea,  as  you  know,  survived  the 
fall  of  Constantinople,  and  was  linked  to  the  dream  about 
Moscow  as  the  third  Rome  in  place  of  the  fallen  second 
Rome  (i.e.  Constantinople).  And  so  comes  about  that 
mixture  of  true  and  false  universal  Christianity  and 
heathen  nationalism  which  you  can  see  till  now  in  the 
Russian  religious  consciousness." 

Such  nationalism  is,  however,  opposed  to  the  whole 
idea  of  St.  Sophia — is  an  active  negation  of  it.  In  the 
idea  of  St.  Sophia  all  the  nations  of  humanity  are  gathered 
into  one  whole  ;  in  her  not  only  all  people  but  nations 
are  called  to  reign  together.    In  the  idea  of  St.  Sophia 

1  He  explains  at  some  length  how  the  Turks  did  not  destroy  the 
representation  of  St.  Sophia,  but  overlaid  it  with  plaster. 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  209 

you  can  see  the  idea  of  God  about  humanity  which  dis- 
closed itself  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Then  were  gathered 
together  in  Jerusalem  all  peoples,  and  every  one  of  them 
could  understand  the  language  of  the  apostles  as  if  it 
were  his  own.  This  unity  of  all  languages  in  the  mind  of 
God  is  understood  by  the  religious  consciousness  in  St. 
Sophia.  On  the  other  hand,  nationalism  is  the  negation 
of  this  united  humanity  because  it  puts  one  nation  above 
the  others. 

The  complete  fulfilment  of  the  idea  of  St.  Sophia  on 
earth  is  at  the  same  time  the  complete  transformation  of 
all  things  terrestrial,  the  final  victory  over  sin  and  death, 
and  the  general  holy  resurrection  in  Christ.  It  is  clear 
that  the  full  revelation  of  this  sacred  ideal  cannot  be 
made  within  the  limits  of  our  terrestrial  existence.  And 
so  for  the  humanity  of  to-day  only  a  partial  and  imper- 
fect understanding  of  "  Sophia  "  is  possible — only  a  slight 
reflection  of  her  future  glory.  But  to  secure  even  this 
degree  of  imperfect  reflection  of  her  in  the  life  of  nations, 
they  must  be  ready  for  great  deeds  and  for  moral  advance. 
One  absolute  condition  is  quite  necessary  for  the  people 
who  want  to  base  their  religion  and  their  mission  on 
' '  Sophia . ' '  They  must  show  by  deed  that  they  really  have 
in  their  soul  the  understanding  of  the  idea  of  a  humanity 
overcoming  through  Christ,  because  that  is  the  first 
thing  about  which  the  image  of  St.  Sophia  speaks. 

The  quarrels  of  fratricidal  nations  living  according  to 
the  laws  of  animals  make  quite  impossible  the  realisa- 
tion of  this  vision  of  humanity  united  in  God.  National- 
ism is  the  first  and  essential  cause  that  prevents  the 
realisation  of  "  Sophia  "  in  the  life  of  nations.  Therefore 
the  surrender  of  nationalism  is  a  necessary  condition  of 
passive  attainment,  without  which  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  serve  "Sophia." 

From  this  point  of  view  the  fate  of  St.  Sophia  in 
Constantinople  and  the  historical  future  of  Russia  linked 
with  it  can  be  quite  clearly  understood.     Historically 


210       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

the  question  of  the  Straits  for  Russia  is  linked  with  two 
other  questions  : 

1.  With  the  question  of  her  mission  for  the  liberation 
of  other  peoples,  and 

2.  With  the  decision  of  a  whole  series  of  national 
questions  within  her  own  territory. 

At  this  point  the  argument  becomes  very  detailed  and 
particular.  "In  1878  the  road  to  Constantinople  lay 
through  Bulgaria  ;  why  could  we  not  accomplish  our 
purpose  in  spite  of  being  at  her  gates  ?  Because  we  did 
not  understand  in  a  sufficiently  deep  way  what  a  national 
question  is.  We  were  not  afraid  of  England  ;  we  were 
partly  afraid  of  Austria  ;  the  real  danger  was  in  our 
mistaken  sharing  in  the  partition  of  Poland.  Austria 
drew  all  her  power  from  Slav  dissent.  Once  the  Slav 
people  are  united  she  has  received  her  death  sentence. 
The  dissent  is  due  in  great  part  to  Russia,  because  she 
took  part  in  the  partition  of  Poland.  Russia  should 
have  given  Poland  her  independence.  Bulgaria  expected 
Russian  help  against  the  Turks  in  '78,  and  did  not  get 
it.  Russia's  sharing  in  the  partition  of  Poland  was  the 
principal  obstacle  in  preventing  her  getting  Constanti- 
nople. In  1878,  after  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  it  was  quite 
clear  that  our  road  to  Constantinople  now  lay  through 
Austria  and  Germany,  and  that  Russia  must  restore  the 
national  unity  of  Poland  before  she  could  get  Austria 
beaten.  The  connection  between  the  possession  of  Con- 
stantinople and  the  restoration  of  Poland  is  both  logical 
and  real.  This  war  shows  that  one  nation  cannot  lord 
it  over  others  ;  every  nation  has  a  right  to  its  own  self- 
individuality.  And  besides,  Constantinople  is,  at  the 
present  moment,  one  of  the  universal  centres  of  the 
union  of  those  peoples  who  consider  other  small  nations 
as  a  prey  for  their  exploitation.  Possible  conditions  for 
Russia's  getting  Constantinople,  are  the  restoration  of 
Poland,  the  liberation  of  Armenia,  and  the  defence  of 
Serbia  ;    as  also  the  assistance  of  Rumania,  and  Greece 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  211 

and  Italy  in  self -aspiration — yes,  even  Bulgaria.1  So  also 
with  Belgium  and  France  (Alsace  and  Lorraine) — there  is 
a  work  of  liberation  and  restoration  to  be  done  there  in 
which  we  can  assist.  In  fact  there  is  not  a  nation  that  is  not 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  question  of  Constanti- 
nople. These  conditions  are  all  really  one  ;  you  must 
give  back  their  fatherland  to  all  nations  that  have  been 
enslaved,  and  others  who  are  under  threat  of  such 
enslavement  claim  our  help. 

"  Only  as  the  general  liberator  of  the  small  nations  and 
as  their  helper,  can  Russia  get  Constantinople  and  the 
Straits.  This  act  can  only  be  thought  of  as  the  last 
stage  in  the  liberation  of  the  peoples.  Only  in  the  name 
of  this  universal  liberation  has  Russia  the  right  to  be 
crowned  with  the  crown  of  Tzargrad.  On  any  other 
condition  the  nations  cannot  consent  to  her  possession 
of  Constantinople,  and  even  if  she  gets  it  for  a  short  time 
a  revolt  against  her  is  quite  inevitable  otherwise  (i.e. 
if  the  small  nations  are  not  freed).  In  the  hands  of  a 
weak  Turkey  Constantinople  was  not  a  danger  to  the 
neighbouring  peoples  ;  but  in  the  hands  of  a  powerful 
State  it  gives  a  possibility  of  mastery  in  the  most  im- 
portant arena  of  the  world.  Such  a  town  as  this  which 
can  change  the  Black  Sea  into  a  Russian  lake,  and  make 
Russia  a  great  Mediterranean  State,  and  give  her  the 
most  powerful  position  in  relation  to  the  Balkan  Penin- 
sula, Asia  Minor,  and  in  general  the  whole  eastern  part 
of  the  Mediterranean,  is  indeed  the  Tzargrad  (Emperor 
Town).  It  is  evident  that  the  nations  are  afraid  of  such 
power  in  the  hands  of  Russia  ;  it  is  evident  also  that  the 
nations  can  accept  it  only  on  one  condition.  Russia  has 
to  do  something  to  change  this  fear  into  confidence. 
From  the  Russian  Empire,  when  in  possession  of  Con- 
stantinople, they  must  not  expect  slavery  or  oppression. 
On  the  contrary,  she  must  be  friendly  to  them  and  a 
powerful  protector  and  defender  of  their  independence. 

1  The  pamphlet  was  published  early  in  1915. 


212       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

There  are  only  two  alternatives  :  either  our  possession 
of  Constantinople  will  really  bring  about  the  great  fact 
of  the  liberation  of  nations,  or  it  cannot  be  realised  at  all. 
Russia  can  get  Constantinople  only  by  being  the  leader 
in  the  universal  liberating  movement  of  the  nations. 
She  can  possess  it  only  by  being  the  State  liberator. 

"  So  we  have  a  striking  example  of  the  importance  of 
ideas  as  a  factor  in  history.  Not  for  her  narrow  national 
selfish  aims,  but  in  the  name  of  a  supra-national  universal 
idea  can  Russia  get  Tzargrad  and  the  Straits.  For  this 
purpose  she  must  get  the  victory  over  her  own  national 
egoism,  and  find  in  herself  a  spiritual  power  higher  than 
that  of  the  nations  whom  she  is  fighting,  for  Tzargrad 
cannot  be  separated  from  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Because  of  its  central  position  it  is  the  cause  of 
different  fears  and  hopes  on  the  part  of  other  nations. 
So,  also,  it  must  serve  not  the  despotic  power  of  one 
nation  over  others,  but  all  humanity.  A  Russian  Tzar- 
grad can  only  be  accepted  as  the  centre  of  freed  nations  ; 
otherwise  Constantinople  has  to  perish  ;  for  if  it  begins 
to  be  a  danger  to  the  independence  of  its  neighbours,  the 
common  danger  will  bring  about  a  general  coalition, 
which  will  have  a  tragic  ending  for  us. 

"  Such  is  the  connection  between  the  question  of  Tzar- 
grad and  the  liberating  mission  of  Russia.  But  that  is 
only  one  side  of  the  deeper  cultural  and  social  task 
which  in  the  Russian  religious  mind  is  connected  with 
the  idea  of '  Sophia.'  The  freedom  of  individuals  or  nations 
is  not  an  aim  in  itself,  but  only  the  means  ;  only  faith 
in  the  absolute  dignity  of  the  individual  as  the  lord  (lit. 
Tzar)  of  creation  justifies  a  liberating  struggle  or  a  liber- 
ating war.  But  this  crowning  of  the  individual  and  of 
humanity  is  just  what  our  religious  mind  finds  and 
understands  in  '  Sophia.'  The  eternal  idea  of  God  about 
man  and  the  race  is  just  that  in  virtue  of  which  the  in- 
dividual deserves  to  be  free. 

"The  realisation  of  freedom  in  the  mutual  relations 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  213 

amongst  peoples  and  nations  is  not,  however,  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  idea  of  '  Sophia '  ;  because  to  liberate  does  not 
necessarily  mean  to  unite  in  spirit.  The  liberated  nations 
might  remain  apart  in  spirit.  They  can  use  their  liberty 
for  good  and  for  evil,  and  so  in  their  life  they  can  stay 
very  far  from  the  ideal  of  humanity  which  is  understood 
by  the  religious  mind  in  the  idea  of  St.  Sophia.  But 
still  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  in  the  general 
worship  of  '  Sophia '  the  struggle  for  the  liberation  of 
nations  is  the  necessary  condition  and  the  first  step. 

" '  Sophia  '  is  the  image  of  God  in  the  individual  and  in 
humanity.  He  who  has  the  image  in  his  soul,  who  sees 
it  in  every  individual  and  nation,  cannot  bear  any 
lessening  of  human  dignity.  All  injustice  to  humanity 
rouses  wrath  in  the  heart  of  him  who  in  devotion  under- 
stands '  Sophia.'  If  Russia  is  willing  to  suffer  for  this  and  is 
ready  for  great  deeds,  it  shows  that  she  has  raised  the 
altar  to  '  Sophia '  in  her  soul,  and  we  can  hope  that  her 
attempt  to  restore  this  altar  and  make  it  visible  to  the 
whole  world  in  Tzargrad  will  have  success." 

The  final  pages  are  devoted  to  the  enquiry  whether 
there  has  been, and  is, any  evidence  of  such  effort  in  Russian 
national  life  towards  spiritual  purification,  if  there  are 
any  signs  of  readiness  on  her  part  for  great  deeds  and  for 
sacrifice.  To  speak  of  such  a  purification  as  already 
accomplished  would  be  quite  vain  and  culpable  pride. 
Yet  there  are  proofs  which  show  that  this  purification 
has  commenced.  At  any  rate  in  some  points  we  see  a 
great  difference  between  contemporary  Russia  and  the 
Russia  of  1878  as  she  was  at  the  gates  of  Tzargrad. 
"  The  former  Russia  was  in  the  power  of  two  great 
enemies  of  the  image  of  God  in  the  individual — animal- 
like nationalism  and  drink.  Now,  thanks  to  God,  we 
are  in  the  way  for  liberation  from  these  two  tyrants." 
He  specifies  the  Beyliss  process  (February,  1914),  when 
"  by  the  verdict  of  the  jury  the  Russian  consciousness  got 
free  from  the  very  grave  sin  of  human  hatred.     Russia 


214       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

openly  acknowledged  the  human  dignity  of  the  nation 
which  gave  birth  to  Christ,  and  has  understood  its  human 
soul.  And  that  is  why  the  verdict  of  the  jury  was  release 
at  the  same  time  for  herself ;  in  this  verdict  she  found 
her  spiritual  justification." 

"  One  year  more  and  we  see  another  step  towards  the 
same  aim.  The  word  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  made 
reference  to  the  task  of  Russia  in  giving  bodily  resurrec- 
tion to  a  dismembered  Poland.  In  1878  we  failed  to  do 
this.  Bringing  our  gift  to  the  altar  of  St.  Sophia  we 
forgot  that  everyone  bringing  his  gift  to  the  altar  should 
first  have  made  peace  with  his  brother,  and  our  gift  was 
rejected.  But  to-day  when  we  are  trying  to  make  peace 
with  Poland  and  have  spilt  our  blood  for  her,  we  may 
hope  our  gift  will  be  accepted." 

The  third  reference  concerns  itself  with  the  effects  of 
prohibition.  "  All  this,  however,"  he  concludes,  "  is 
nothing  but  a  drop  compared  with  the  whole  of  that  for 
which  Russia  must  be  ready  if  she  desires  to  serve  her 
ideal.  He  who  understands  '  Sophia '  even  a  little  as  his 
aim,  feels  himself  like  the  man  who  has  no  dress  where- 
with to  enter  the  wedding  feast.  But  still  the  soul  is  full 
of  hope  that  sooner  or  later  we  shall  attain  our  ideal. 
This  hope  is  encouraged  by  the  news  which  we  get  about 
great  deeds  on  the  field  of  battle. 

"  An  important  social  worker  who  came  recently  to 
Moscow  from  Galicia  and  Poland  gave  me  his  impressions. 
*  If  you  have  doubt  about  Russia,  leave  the  rear  of  the 
army  and  go  to  the  trenches.  There  are  no  doubters. 
There  are  no  generals,  officers  or  soldiers.  There  is  only 
an  obscure  crowd  of  mujiks,  dressed  alike,  alike  steadfast 
and  sure,  alike  ready  to  die  for  what  they  consider  holy.' 

"  My  conversationalist  was  right.  In  face  of  death 
people  feel  and  understand  much  more  deeply  than  we, 
that  for  which  we  live  and  die.  This  great  aim  which 
unites  the  whole  of  Russia  is  more  real  there  than  here. 
For  that  reason  they  demonstrate  the  victory  of  the 


RUSSIA  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE  21 

Russian  spirit  over  German  technique.  We  know  the 
shrine  which  works  these  miracles.  If  you  think  about 
these  many  millions  of  obscure  peasants  you  can  under- 
stand that  we  all  have  the  same  holy  ideal,  the  same 
about  which  the  Russian  peasants  were  singing  on  the 
Bosphorus  at  the  gate  of  St.  Sophia.1  Sooner  or  later  we 
will  hear  this  song  in  the  Temple  itself.  St.  Sophia  herself 
who  lives  in  the  soul  of  the  people  will  lead  thither  the 
Russian  army.  Then  the  hymn  of  the  Holy  Resurrection 
will  announce  the  great  day  of  the  liberation  of  nations." 

1  See  p.  188. 


POSTLUDE 


POSTLUDE 

IF  now  these  pages  indicate  anything,  it  is  that  there  is 
a  land  waiting  to  be  possessed,  a  land  of  spiritual  and 
of  material  wealth.  In  a  nobler  and  a  deeper  sense  than 
their  ancestors,1  the  Russian  people  invite  our  co-operation 
in  many  different  directions.  Yet  it  is  apparently  difficult 
for  some  of  us  to  overcome  the  attitude  of  six  decades, 
and  as  one  has  been  hauntingly  reminded  by  a  Russian 
ex-Ambassador,  "  England  has  never  made  permanent 
alliances."  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
present  Entente  should  not  be  lasting.  All  Russian  am- 
bitions will  be  satisfied  with  the  Straits  opened  up  and 
in  her  hands.  The  idea  of  an  advance  by  her  upon  India 
is  a  fantasy.  The  answer  to  the  question  as  to  whether 
Russia  ever  could  or  would  act  like  Germany  to-day  is 
found  not  merely  in  an  analysis  of  the  Russian  tempera- 
ment, but  in  the  consideration  of  the  motives  underlying 
Germany's  aggression.  This  in  itself  brings  out  great 
differences  between  Russia  and  Germany.  Germany  is 
a  country  for  which  expansion  is  and  was  indispensable  : 
on  the  other  hand,  how  many  generations  must  pass 
before  Russia  has  thoroughly  developed  the  enormous 
territories  that  she  holds,  e.g.  in  Siberia  and  Trans-Caspia  ! 
Her  imperialism  is  intensive  :  the  imperialism  of  Germany 
is  extensive  and  therefore  aggressive.  For  Germany  the 
question  has  been  in  the  first  instance  a  material  rather 
than  a  moral  one.  Yet  even  in  relation  to  this  last  aspect, 
Russia  did  everything  possible  to  avert  the  war.  The 
war  touches  everyone  in  Russia,  touches  her  people  not 

1  See  p.  4. 
219 


220       THE  SELF-DISCOVERY  OF  RUSSIA 

once  but  twice  or  thrice,  because  it  is  the  war  of  everyone  to 
put  an  end  to  the  German  danger  and  pretentions  for  ever. 

In  the  extreme  Orient,  Britain  and  Russia  have  the  same 
motives,  at  once  conservative  and  in  the  best  interests 
of  civilisation.  There  is  nothing  in  the  East  to  militate 
against  our  close  union  with  Russia.  Russia  will  need 
much  foreign  capital  after  the  war.  The  Germans  have 
been  filtering  into  the  country  for  many  decades.  The 
state  of  matters  is  at  present  abnormal — they  are  gone. 
But  it  is  evident  that  in  the  end  the  Russian  Government 
will  have  to  choose  between  politics  and  business,  unless 
Britain  takes  steps  to  cement  the  union  on  the  basis  of 
furnishing  capital,  and  in  other  ways. 

"  In  Asia  we  must  go  hand  in  hand.  If  the  fundamental 
principle  of  doing  nothing  without  agreement  and  consulta- 
tion between  the  Governments  was  permanently  agreed  to, 
there  could  be  no  possible  future  cause  of  misunder- 
standing. In  Persia  there  can  be  no  trouble,  because  we 
have  separate  spheres  of  influence.  With  regard  to 
Palestine,  what  is  vital  to  Russia  is  the  modality  in 
government  alone.  The  interest  of  Russia  in  Palestine 
is  religious  ;  it  is  not  political  in  any  way.  All  that  she 
wants  is  perfect  religious  liberty — freedom  for  her  pil- 
grims in  their  worship  and  ministrations  there. 

"  Russia  is  the  protector  of  Armenia  against  Turkey. 
She  is  sympathetic  towards  the  Armenian  people,  and 
has  no  thought  of  annexation  in  connection  with  their 
territory,  viz.  those  regions  in  Asia  Minor  where  they 
have  lived  alongside  the  Turks  and  Kurds.  There  must 
of  course  be  rearrangements  of  the  population  to  some 
extent.  But  Russia  wishes  Armenia  to  live  her  own  life 
with  autonomy." 

Finally,  "  there  never  has  been  any  genuine  Pan- 
Slavism  in  the  sense  of  a  real  desire  to  build  up  a  Pan- 
Slavist  cosmos  that  will  dominate  and  rule  the  world. 
Such  an  idea  is  simply  one  of  the  German  manufactures 
in  our  country.     Our  only  desire  is  that  these  smaller 


POSTLUDE  221 

nationalities  in  the  Near  East  shall  live  in  peace  and 
happiness,  developing  their  own  life  as  they  desire,  and 
for  ever  free  from  the  terrible  tyranny  of  Austria,  and 
her  method  of  sowing  mutual  mistrust  amongst  them." 
And  that,  too,  is  the  desire  of  Britain.  Perhaps,  after  all, 
we  are  nearer  than  we  think  to  the  days  of  unforced 
permanent  alliances  for  supra-national  ends. 


APPENDIX 

Note  1  (p.  52). 

The  reference  is  to  the  British  Nationality  and  Status  of 
Aliens  Act,  which  provides  that  the  following  shall  be  deemed 
to  be  natural-born  British  subjects  :  "  Any  person  born  out 
of  His  Majesty's  dominions,  whose  father  was  a  British  sub- 
ject at  the  time  of  that  person's  birth  and  either  was  born 
within  His  Majesty's  allegiance  or  was  a  person  to  whom  a 
certificate  of  naturalization  had  been  granted."     [Section  I 

(1)  (b)]. 

The  effect  of  this  is  that,  whereas  formerly  two  generations 
of  persons  born  abroad  of  British  descent  on  the  male  side 
could  claim  British  nationality,  persons  of  the  second  genera- 
tion born  abroad  on  and  after  the  commencement  of  the 
new  Act  (1  January,  1915)  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  British 
subjects,  but  as  statutory  aliens.  The  status  of  persons  born 
before  January,  1915,  is  however  not  affected  by  this  pro- 
vision, and  they  remain  British  subjects  if  they  possessed 
that  status  when  the  Act  came  into  operation.  Or,  to  put 
the  matter  more  concretely  :  A,  born  in  His  Majesty's  do- 
minions, and  consequently  a  natural-born  British  subject, 
has  issue  B,  born  outside  His  Majesty's  dominions,  but  a 
British  subject.  B  has  issue  C  and  D,  both  born  outside  His 
Majesty's  dominions,  C  before  the  commencement  of  the 
new  Act,  D  after  that  date.  In  terms  of  the  Act,  C  is  a  British 
subject,  D  is  an  alien.  Further,  the  administration  of  the 
Act  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the  Home  Office. 

Note  2  (p.  52). 

There  is,  in  particular,  one  direction  in  which  Russia  could 
assist  Great  Britain  and  her  own  balance  of  trade  at  the 

223 


224  APPENDIX 

same  time,  and  that  is  in  connection  with  the  supply  of  timber. 
Russia  has  been  termed  "  The  Land  of  Forests."  At  the  end 
of  the  war,  there  will  be  a  very  great  demand  for  timber  of 
the  kind  she  can  produce  in  large  amounts — pine  and  fir — 
for  rebuilding  the  towns,  villages,  and  homesteads  devastated 
in  the  war  zones.  The  great  forests  in  North  European  Russia, 
in  Finland,  and  in  the  Taiga  belt  in  Siberia  represent  enormous 
areas  of  unexploited  material  of  this  description.  Many  of 
these  areas  are  practically  inaccessible,  owing  to  the  scant 
population  and  lack  of  means  of  communication.  To  open 
up  these  sources  of  wealth,  capital  will  be  required.  In  1913 
Great  Britain  imported  £15,000,000  worth  of  forestry  material 
from  Russia.  Owing  to  the  increased  price  of  timber  and  the 
large  demands  which  will  inevitably  arise  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  the  demands  for  forestry  material  by  Great  Britain  and 
her  Allies  will  be  very  great.  If  capital  is  forthcoming,  Russia 
should  be  able,  by  tapping  hitherto  unexploited  areas,  to 
supply  these  demands  at  reasonable  prices,  and  thus  prevent 
the  Central  Powers,  who  have  great  forest  reserves  and  are 
confidently  counting  on  recovering  trade  by  means  of  them, 
from  making  a  "  corner  "  in  the  timber  markets. 


INDEX 


Agrarian  reform,  26,  28 

Alexander  II,  policy  of,  6 

Alexander  III,  policy  of,  6 

Aliens  Act,  62  ff . 

Armenia,  20,  220 

Army  Medical  Department,  132 

Aspirations    of    Russian    Poles, 

164  ff. 
Assembly  (village),  see  Mir 
Austrian  Campaign,  136 

Balkan  problem,  165 

Berdyaev,  Nicolas,  quoted,  3,  4,  5 

Bismarck,  6,  7 

Bombardment  of  Austrian  lines, 

140  ff. 
Bosnia-Herzegovina,  7 
Britain  and  Russia,  7,  219  ff. 
British  Nationality  and  Status  of 

Aliens  Act,  52  ff . 
Bureaucracy,  5 
Business   relations    with    Russia, 

43  ff. 

Carpathian  retreat,  133 
Charter  of  the  Constitution,   194 
Commune,  see  Mir 
Communion    of    Saints,    Russian 

belief  in,  182 
Constantinople  and  Russia,  186  ff., 

199  ff. 
Co-operative  movement,  36  ff . 
Cossacks,  127,  131,  138,  145  ff. 
County  Councils,  see  Zemstvo 
Crime,  diminution  of,  63,  75  ff . 
Czech  nationality,  159 

a  225 


Dantzig,  future  of,  161 
Dardanelles  and  Russia,  201  ff. 
Decentralisation  in  Russia,  169 
Deserter,  German,   147  ff. 
Dissent  in  Russia,  192  ff. 
Duma,  21,  25,  26,  49,  57,  58,  167, 
190 

Economic  importance  of  Dar- 
danelles, 201  ff. 

Education,  35 ;  in  relation  to 
prohibition,  86 

Epoch  of  Petrograd,  200,  205 

Factory   hands   and   prohibition, 

61,  90  ff . 
Feeding  of  Russian  troops,  133 
Foreign    capital    in    Russia,    46  ; 

need  of,  for  Russia,  48 
Future,    of    Poland,    157  ff .  ;     of 

prohibition,  117  ff. 

Galicia,  description,  124  ff. 
German  influence  in  Russia,  5,  6, 

7,  44  ff . 
German  Poles,  attitude  of,  167 
Germany  and  Poland,  157 
Gold  reserve  in  Russia,  46 

Hooliganism  and  prohibition,  75 
Hospital,  in  Kinyeshma,  34,  37  ; 
at  Petrograd  station,  16 

Interview  with  German  deserter, 
147  ff. 


226 


INDEX 


Jews,    19,   36,   37,   213,   214;    in 

Poland,  162  ff. 
John,  Father,  183 

Kiev,  123,  153,  180,  181,  205 
Kinyeshma,    34,    35 ;     results   of 

prohibition  in,  62  S. 
Kostroma,    Zemstvo   activity  in, 

33  ff.  ;    and  prohibition,  67  ff., 

80 

Law-breaking     and     prohibition, 

75  ff. 
Life  in  the  trenches,  135  ff. 
Lithuania,  158  ff. 
"  Lusitania,"  sinking  of,  149 

Mendelson's  studies  in  prohibi- 
tion, 113 

Military  -  Technical  Committee, 
22  ff. 

Mir,  26  ff.  ;  and  prohibition,  73  ff . 

Miracle,  183 

Moral  results  of  prohibition,  58, 
60,  74 

Moscow,  municipality  of,  and  Red 
Cross  work,  12,  15,  16,  23 

Munitions,  22  ff.,  36 

Nicholas  II  and  vodka,  57 
Non-appearances,     and     prohibi- 
tion, 92,  95  ff. 

Oriental  Orthodox  Church,  179  ff. 

Palestine,  Russia  and,  186 

Pan-Slavism,  220 

Partitioning  of  Poland,  158 

People's  Palaces,  192 

Permanent  prohibition,  81  ff. 

Petrograd  Municipality,  and  Red 
Cross  work,  16  ff. ;  and  prohibi- 
tion, 60  ff . 


Poland,  19,  157  ff.  ;  differences 
with  Russia,  160,  210 ;  Jews 
in,  162 

Prisoners,  German,  27  ff.  ;  Rus- 
sian, 28 

Procurator  of  Holy  Synod,  191 

Prohibition,  effect  on  country 
life,  59,  67  ff.  ;  and  sickness, 
113  ff.  ;  and  social  life,  71  ff. 
permanency  of,  81  ff.,  105 
and  town  life,  60  ff.,  90  ff. 
and  factory  life,  61,  90  ff. 
future  of,  117  ff. 

Protection  in  Russia,  48 

Protestantism  and  Greek  Church, 
184 

Red  Cross  Society,  12,  13,  15 
Regimental  holiday,  143  ff. 
Religion  in  Russia,  179  ff. 
Russia  and   Constantinople,    186 

ff.,  199  ff. 
Russia  and  Germany,  5,  6,  7,  44  ff ., 

148,  219  ff. 
Russia  and  Palestine,  186,  220 
Russia  and  Poland,  157  ff.,  210 
Russia  and  the  Straits,  201  ff. 
Russian  credit,  50  ;   gold  reserve, 

46 
Russo-Japanese  War,  4,  7,  11,  12 

St.    Sophia,   Temple   of,    187  ff. ; 

idea  of,  206  ff . 
Shingariev,  49 

Siberia,  prisoners  of  war  in,  27,  28 
Skryabin,  174  ff. 
Statistical  results  of  prohibition, 

92  ff. 
Stolypin,  26 
Substitutes  for  vodka,  71 

Tarnopol,  126,  127 

Torneo,  64 

Trench  conditions,  135  ff . 


INDEX 


227 


Trubetzkoy,    Prince,     186,     187, 

205  ft. 
Tuitchev,  3,  200 
Turkey  and  Russia,  200  ff. 

Uniats,  128,  143 

Union  of  Towns,  5,  11  ff.  ;  juridi- 
cal position  of,  25 

Union  of  Zemstvos,  5,  11  ff.  ; 
juridical  position  of,  25 

Varyag  princes,  4 
Village  Commune,  see  Mir 
Vodka,  57  ff.  ;    budget  deficit  on, 


43;    composition  of,  114;   pro- 
hibition of,  57  ff.  ;    substitutes 
for,  71 
Volga,  in  peasant  thought,  33,  37 

Wine,  prohibition  of,  117,  118 
Women,    drunkenness    amongst 
78  ff. 

Zemstvo,  basis  of  practical  free- 
dom, 25  ;  formation  of,  11  ; 
union  of,  11  ff.  ;  work  in  Kos- 
troma, 33  ff . 

Zlota  Lipa,  134  ff. 


PRINTBD   BT 

WM.    BREVDON'    AND   SOW.    LW>., 

PLYMOUTH,   HSTOLAHD. 


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